Self-assembled nanopatterns of plasmagrown nanoparticles

Summary form only given. Reactive plasmas are commonly known as ideal environments that sustain intense growth of clusters, nano- and even microparticles (also known as "dust"). Recently, it has been shown that such particles under certain conditions can be deposited on solid surfaces during the plasma discharge run. Levitating in the gas phase, these particles can self-organize into voids, crystals and other structures. Moreover, self-organization process continues even after their deposition on substrate surfaces. In this contribution we investigate mechanisms that control nanoparticle deposition on nanostructured solid substrates with irregular surface morphology, which is often the case in PECVD of various nanostructures and nanofilms from reactive plasmas. In this contribution we present the results of two-dimensional simulation of nanoparticle kinetics in the vicinity of nanopatterned surfaces. Two main assumptions are: (i) threshold conditions for nanoparticle deposition are met; and (ii) particle motion is mainly governed by the electric and ion-drag forces. The results of simulations suggest that the particles tend to deposit onto lateral surfaces of pre-formed nanostructures (e.g., nanopyramid-like structures) rather than smooth open surface areas uncovered by the nanostructures. The equilibrium shapes of the nanostructures have been computed for a range of nanoparticle sizes and biases applied to the substrate. The results are consistent with recent experiments on carbon nanoparticle manipulation in plasma-aided nanofabrication of carbon nanotip microemitters on Ni-catalyzed silicon surfaces and can be used for controlled growth of the desired nanostructures and nanopatterns in reactive plasma environments