Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.7
3.4
Journals
Coatings
Special Issues
Plasma Etching and Deposition
share announcement

Plasma Etching and Deposition

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). This special issue belongs to the section "Plasma Coatings, Surfaces & Interfaces".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2017) | Viewed by 29424

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Qi Hua Fan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Interests: plasma; thin film; solar cell; chemical vapor deposition; coatings; sputtering; surface engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schuelke

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Fraunhofer Center for Coatings and Diamond Technologies, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, 1449 Engineering Research Ct, East Lansing, MI, USA
Interests: diamond and diamond-like carbon materials; plasma deposition processes and systems; energy efficient coatings; energy storage; transportation safety; friction, wear and corrosion in manufacturing and biomedical fields; diamond-based power electronic devices and biosensors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to submit your work to this Special Issue on “Plasma Etching and Deposition”. Plasma-assisted processing plays the most important role in manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuits, flat panel displays, glass coatings, optical components, and high-efficiency silicon heterojunction and thin film photovoltaic modules. The unique properties of plasmas and their attractive applications have stimulated broad research interests in fundamental plasma science and engineering. The aim of this Special Issue is to present the latest experimental and theoretical developments in plasma processing, through a combination of original research papers and review articles from leading groups around the world. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Chemical and physical reactions in plasmas
  • Interactions between plasma and other states of matter
  • Modelling and engineering of plasma sources
  • Plasma diagnostics
  • Plasma-assisted thin film deposition
  • Plasma etching and surface engineering

Prof. Dr. Qi Hua Fan
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schuelke
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plasma
  • thin films
  • etching

Published Papers (5 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

13 pages, 7220 KiB  
Article
HFCVD Diamond-Coated Mechanical Seals
by Raul Simões, Bruno Martins, José Santos and Victor Neto
Coatings 2018, 8(5), 172; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings8050172 - 03 May 2018
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5811
Abstract
A mechanical seal promotes the connection between systems or mechanisms, preventing the escape of fluids to the exterior. Nonetheless, due to extreme working conditions, premature failure can occur. Diamond, due to its excellent properties, is heralded as an excellent choice to cover the [...] Read more.
A mechanical seal promotes the connection between systems or mechanisms, preventing the escape of fluids to the exterior. Nonetheless, due to extreme working conditions, premature failure can occur. Diamond, due to its excellent properties, is heralded as an excellent choice to cover the surface of these devices and extend their lifetime. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to deposit diamond films over mechanical seals and test the coated seals on a water pump, under real working conditions. The coatings were created by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) and two consecutive layers of micro- and nanocrystalline diamond were deposited. One of the main difficulties is the attainment of a good adhesion between the diamond films and the mechanical seal material (WC-Co). Nucleation, deposition conditions, and pre-treatments were studied to enhance the coating. Superficial wear or delamination of the film was investigated using SEM and Raman characterization techniques, in order to draw conclusions about the feasibility of these coatings in the WC-Co mechanical seals with the purpose of increasing their performance and life time. The results obtained gave a good indication about the feasibility of this process and the deposition conditions used, with the mechanical seals showing no wear and no film delamination after a real work environment test. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Etching and Deposition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 5032 KiB  
Article
Comparative Study of Furnace and Flash Lamp Annealed Silicon Thin Films Grown by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition
by Maheshwar Shrestha, Keliang Wang, Bocong Zheng, Laura Mokrzycki and Qi Hua Fan
Coatings 2018, 8(3), 97; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings8030097 - 08 Mar 2018
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5565
Abstract
Low-temperature growth of microcrystalline silicon (mc-Si) is attractive for many optoelectronic device applications. This paper reports a detailed comparison of optical properties, microstructure, and morphology of amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin films crystallized by furnace annealing and flash lamp annealing (FLA) at temperatures below [...] Read more.
Low-temperature growth of microcrystalline silicon (mc-Si) is attractive for many optoelectronic device applications. This paper reports a detailed comparison of optical properties, microstructure, and morphology of amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin films crystallized by furnace annealing and flash lamp annealing (FLA) at temperatures below the softening point of glass substrate. The initial a-Si films were grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Reflectance measurement indicated characteristic peak in the UV region ~280 nm for the furnace annealed (>550 °C) and flash lamp annealed films, which provided evidence of crystallization. The film surface roughness increased with increasing the annealing temperature as well as after the flash lamp annealing. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement indicated that the as-deposited samples were purely amorphous and after furnace crystallization, the crystallites tended to align in one single direction (202) with uniform size that increased with the annealing temperature. On the other hand, the flash lamp crystalized films had randomly oriented crystallites with different sizes. Raman spectroscopy showed the crystalline volume fraction of 23.5%, 47.3%, and 61.3% for the samples annealed at 550 °C, 650 °C, and with flash lamp, respectively. The flash lamp annealed film was better crystallized with rougher surface compared to furnace annealed ones. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Etching and Deposition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

3503 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Dark Shade Pigment Dyeing of Cotton Fabric Using Plasma Treatment
by Chi-Wai Kan and Wai-Shan Man
Coatings 2017, 7(7), 104; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings7070104 - 19 Jul 2017
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5440
Abstract
This study is intended to investigate the effect of atmospheric pressure plasma treatment on dark shade pigment dyeing of cotton fabric. Experimental results reveal that plasma-treated cotton fabric can attain better color yield, levelness, and crocking fastness in dark shade pigment dyeing, compared [...] Read more.
This study is intended to investigate the effect of atmospheric pressure plasma treatment on dark shade pigment dyeing of cotton fabric. Experimental results reveal that plasma-treated cotton fabric can attain better color yield, levelness, and crocking fastness in dark shade pigment dyeing, compared with normal cotton fabric (not plasma treated). SEM analysis indicates that cracks and grooves were formed on the cotton fiber surface where the pigment and the binder can get deposited and improve the color yield, levelness, and crocking fastness. It was also noticed that pigment was aggregated when deposited on the fiber surface which could affect the final color properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Etching and Deposition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

3228 KiB  
Article
Kinetic Analysis of Additive on Plasma Electrolytic Boriding
by Yongfeng Jiang, Yefeng Bao and Min Wang
Coatings 2017, 7(5), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings7050061 - 28 Apr 2017
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4610
Abstract
Plasma electrolytic boriding (PEB) is a method of combination surface strengthening and surface texturing on metal. In this study, the kinetics and the lubrication friction of borided layers in the plasma electrolytic boriding on the Q235 were investigated in an aqueous solution for [...] Read more.
Plasma electrolytic boriding (PEB) is a method of combination surface strengthening and surface texturing on metal. In this study, the kinetics and the lubrication friction of borided layers in the plasma electrolytic boriding on the Q235 were investigated in an aqueous solution for 5–15 min. The cross-section and surface morphologies of the boriding layers were confirmed using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The presence of phases on the surface was determined using the X-ray diffraction. The hardness and the lubrication friction were evaluated using a micro-hardness tester and pin-on-disk friction tester in an oil sliding condition, respectively. The PEB layer contains phases in FeB, Fe2B, Ni3B4, NiB, and Ni2B. It is indicated that the value of activation energy in the PEB treatment is approximately 186.17 kJ/mol. The random micro-pores in surface texturing are unevenly distributed on the surface of the Q235. The micro-hardness of the boriding layer is up to 900 HV, whereas that of the substrate is approximately 181 HV. The weight loss of PEB sample in 10 min is 0.0017 mg in the lubrication friction, whereas that of untreated sample is 0.0047 mg in the same condition. The formation of boriding strengthening surface texturing in PEB improves lubrication friction greatly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Etching and Deposition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

7811 KiB  
Review
Photonic Structures for Light Trapping in Thin Film Silicon Solar Cells: Design and Experiment
by Yi Ding, Peizhuan Chen, Qi Hua Fan and Guofu Hou
Coatings 2017, 7(12), 236; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings7120236 - 21 Dec 2017
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6795
Abstract
One of the foremost challenges in designing thin-film silicon solar cells (TFSC) is devising efficient light-trapping schemes due to the short optical path length imposed by the thin absorber thickness. The strategy relies on a combination of a high-performance back reflector and an [...] Read more.
One of the foremost challenges in designing thin-film silicon solar cells (TFSC) is devising efficient light-trapping schemes due to the short optical path length imposed by the thin absorber thickness. The strategy relies on a combination of a high-performance back reflector and an optimized texture surface, which are commonly used to reflect and scatter light effectively within the absorption layer, respectively. In this paper, highly promising light-trapping structures based on a photonic crystal (PC) for TFSCs were investigated via simulation and experiment. Firstly, a highly-reflective one-dimensional photonic crystal (1D-PC) was designed and fabricated. Then, two types of 1D-PC-based back reflectors (BRs) were proposed: Flat 1D-PC with random-textured aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) or random-textured 1D-PC with AZO. These two newly-designed BRs demonstrated not only high reflectivity and sufficient conductivity, but also a strong light scattering property, which made them efficient candidates as the electrical contact and back reflector since the intrinsic losses due to the surface plasmon modes of the rough metal BRs can be avoided. Secondly, conical two-dimensional photonic crystal (2D-PC)-based BRs were investigated and optimized for amorphous a-SiGe:H solar cells. The maximal absorption value can be obtained with an aspect ratio of 1/2 and a period of 0.75 µm. To improve the full-spectral optical properties of solar cells, a periodically-modulated PC back reflector was proposed and experimentally demonstrated in the a-SiGe:H solar cell. This periodically-modulated PC back reflector, also called the quasi-crystal structure (QCS), consists of a large periodic conical PC and a randomly-textured Ag layer with a feature size of 500–1000 nm. The large periodic conical PC enables conformal growth of the layer, while the small feature size of Ag can further enhance the light scattering. In summary, a comprehensive study of the design, simulation and fabrication of 1D-PC- and 2D-PC-based back reflectors for TFSCs was carried out. Total absorption and device performance enhancement were achieved with the novel PC light-trapping systems because of their high reflectivity or high scattering property. Further research is necessary to illuminate the optimal structure design of PC-based back reflectors and high solar cell efficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Etching and Deposition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-5
Back to TopTop