Here is the preliminary list of invited speakers for FCSE-2020:
You will also find the biography of each individual speaker and the abstract of their respective presentation shortly.
❯ Gregory Abadias, CNRS-Université de Poitiers, Poitier, France
“Conductive transition metal nitrides, a fascinating class of thin film materials: insights into crystal growth, elastic and optical properties”
The nitrides of most of the group IVb-Vb-VIb transition metals (TM) constitute the unique category of conductive ceramics, characterized by substantial electronic conductivity, high hardness and thermal stability. They find widespread applications, such as protective hard coatings or metallization layers in microelectronics, and their promise as alternate plasmonic candidates for high temperature applications has recently aggregated interest [1]. In this talk, I will present and discuss results obtained on group IVb-VIb TM nitride (TMN) thin films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering, including epitaxial binary layers on MgO substrates as well as polycrystalline films deposited at oblique incidence angles [2-4]. The issue of stress evolution during thin film growth will be also addressed, highlighting the role of ion bombardment in dcMS and HiPIMS discharges [3]. The influence of point defects on the phase stability and elastic properties of binary TMN will be assessed based on a comparison of experimentally measured elastic constants and computed data from first-principles calculations. Finally, the optical properties of group IVb-TMN will be presented in the frame of their potential use as alternate plasmonic materials. In particular, a new route towards the synthesis of TMN nanowires on nano-rippled surfaces will be examined.
Gregory Abadias is Professor at the Physics Department of the University of Poitiers, France. He received his Ph.D. in materials science in 1998 at National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble (INPG), and he is currently group leader of thin films activities at CNRS Pprime Institute in Poitiers. He conducts research on a range of topics related to nanoscale thin films, including mechanical, electrical and optical properties of metallic, nitride or oxide systems as well as hard and protective coatings in the form of nanocomposites or multilayers. His current research interests focus on the understanding of thin film growth dynamics using real-time and in situ diagnostics, with main emphasis on the stress development during sputter-deposition of polycrystalline and epitaxial layers. He coauthored more than 150 papers and serves as Editor of Surface and Coatings Technology journal since 2016.
[1] P. Patsalas et al., Mat. Sci. Eng. R 123 (2018) 1
[2] B. Bouaouina et al., Mat. Design. 160 (2018) 338
[3] F. Cemin et al., Thin Solid Films 688 (2019) 137335
[4] G. Abadias et al., Coatings 9 (2019) 712
❯ André Anders, Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering, Leipzig, Germany
“The quest for understanding and optimizing plasma-based deposition”
André Anders has a joint appointment as the Director and CEO (Direktor und Vorstand) of the Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering, Leipzig, Germany, and Professor of Applied Physics at the Felix Bloch Institute of Solid State Physics, Leipzig University. He assumed these positions in 2017 after working at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, CA, USA, since 1992, where he still is a Senior Scientist Affiliate. He studied physics in Wroclaw, Poland, Berlin, (East) Germany, and Moscow (Russia, then Soviet Union), to obtain his PhD degree from Humboldt University in Berlin. André has worked for over 30 years in basic and applied plasma physics and material science. He is also engaged in several scientific and technical committees. He has authored 3 books and about 350 peer-reviewed journal papers in physics and material science (h-index 65, over 16,000 citations, Google Scholar 2019). He served as Associated Editor and since 2014 as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Applied Physics for AIP Publishing, NY.
The terminology “Physical Vapor Deposition” (PVD) is widely used describing a family of deposition technologies in parallel to “Chemical Vapor Deposition” (CVD). For the latter, chemical reactions on the surface of the growing film play an important role. Such classification helps us to get organized and to better understand our world where the variety of processes increases. Yet, the term “PVD” is overextended when applied to plasma-based deposition technologies because it falsely suggests that vapor is deposited. The term is correct for the original concept when thermal or electron-beam-heated vapor sources were used. As known since the 1970s, e.g. by the work of Thornton, hyperthermal kinetic energy of particles arriving on the growing film have a decisive effect on a film’s microstructure, thus its density, stress, and many resulting properties. Here, the particles may or may not be ionized (they could be energetic atoms or ions). In this talk, I’ll focus on the non-vapor components, especially the fluxes of charged particles. Exposing the growing film to plasma, and in particular to plasma with film-forming ions, such as ionized metal, offers various ways to control the energy flux by tuning the potential difference between surface and plasma (a.k.a. as “substrate bias” versus “plasma bias”). The latter was recently rediscovered when considering bipolar biasing in the context of HiPIMS. I will illustrate the effect of the various bias methods and argue that for most cases, working at an “energy sweet spot” is desirable where the kinetic energy is less than the displacement energy but the flux of charged particles is high.
❯ Antonin Fejfar, Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
“New role of thin films in advanced photovoltaics”
In his research, Antonín Fejfar focuses on physics of thin films of nanostructured semiconductors for applications in solar cells and photonics. He is the (co)author of more than 140 publications, which have been cited more than 1500 times (h-index 23) and of 1 international patent. He has led several grant projects, including international ones (H2020, FP7, Barrande, DAAD). In April 2017, he became President of the Council of Sciences of the CAS after serving as its Vice President for Mathematics, Physics and Earth Sciences from 2011 to 2017. He is a member of the Committee on Energy of the CAS, a member of the Scientific Council of CEITEC Nano at Brno University of Technology and of the Nanometer Structures Division of the International Union of Vacuum Sciences, Technologies and Applications (IUVSTA). He is one of the main organizers of the international summer school series on Physics at Nanoscale. He has supervised students on graduate and undergraduate levels as well as high school students in the Open Science project. He is actively involved in science popularization, in particular in the areas of solar energy and nanoscience. Currently, photovoltaics has become an established industrial field with the global installed capacity over 500 GWp and with a perspective of reaching the terawatt installed capacity within the following decade. The field is dominated by silicon wafer-based cells for which previously unforeseen low system prices have been reached. The advantages of photovoltaics based on silicon thin film (lower consumption of energy-costly silicon and thus shorter energy payback time) have not been sufficient to overcome the disadvantage of lower efficiencies (12 % record efficiency vs. ~25 %). Thus, the development and production of silicon thin film photovoltaics has nearly stopped. The other types of thin film-based PV (CdTe, CIS) struggle as well. Yet, the highest recent efficiencies have been achieved by merging both technologies [1]: Si wafers for photogeneration and thin films for selective passivated contacting scheme. The record efficiency [2] reached 26.7 % by using silicon heterojunction (SHJ) cells with interdigitated back contacts composed of intrinsic and either n or p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon layers with thicknesses of ~ 10 nm. Many variations of solar cells with carrier-selective passivation contacts (e.g. TOPCON or POLO) are also being explored. The record SHJ cell above has been fabricated by photolithography, unsuitable for mass production. Thus, simpler stencil mask-based technology is being developed in the NextBase H2020 project[3]. The tunnel-IBC approach further simplifies the process by eliminating the patterning and aligning the hole collector contacts. Assay of the back-contacting scheme with n and p fingers brings new challenges on how to measure these very thin layers, in particular, when deposited on textured wafers. We will review the principle and use of optical profilometry [4] based on the attenuation of the Raman scattering from the underlying wafer which allowed us to map the layers with a thickness resolution better than 0.5 nm. The optical profilometry also finds its use in other new ways of interface engineering by inserting 2D materials [5] or self-assembled dipolar molecule monolayers. [6,7].
Antonín Fejfar studied physical microelectronics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University in Prague from 1981 to 1986. In 1991, he defended his dissertation thesis on the organic semiconducting thin films and then went for a post-doctoral stay at Kyoto University, Japan (1991–1993). Since 1994, he has worked at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS). He returned to Kyoto University in 2007–2008 as a visiting professor. Since 2014, he has been a visiting researcher at the École Polytechnique in France.
[1] W.C. Sinke, Development of photovoltaic technologies for global impact, Renew. Energy. 138 (2019) 911–914.
[2] K. Yoshikawa, H. Kawasaki, W. Yoshida, T. Irie, K. Konishi, K. Nakano, T. Uto, D. Adachi, M. Kanematsu, H. Uzu, K. Yamamoto, Silicon heterojunction solar cell with interdigitated back contacts for a photoconversion efficiency over 26%, Nat. Energy. 2 (2017) 17032.
[3] NextBase, Web. (2016). http://nextbase-project.eu/ (accessed May 3, 2019).
[4] M. Ledinský, B. Paviet-Salomon, A. Vetushka, J. Geissbühler, A. Tomasi, M. Despeisse, S.D. Wolf, C. Ballif, A. Fejfar, Profilometry of thin films on rough substrates by Raman spectroscopy, Sci. Rep. 6 (2016) 37859.
[5] Z. Hájková, M. Ledinský, A. Vetushka, J. Stuchlík, M. Müller, A. Fejfar, M. Bouša, M. Kalbáč, O. Frank, Photovoltaic characterization of graphene/silicon Schottky junctions from local and macroscopic perspectives, Chem. Phys. Lett. 676 (2017) 82–88.[6] A. Vetushka, L. Bernard, O. Guseva, Z. Bastl, J. Plocek, I. Tomandl, A. Fejfar, T. Baše, P. Schmutz, Adsorption of oriented carborane dipoles on a silver surface, Phys. Status Solidi B. (2015) n/a-n/a.
[7] M. Hladík, A. Vetushka, A. Fejfar, H. Vázquez, Tuning of the gold work function by carborane films studied using density functional theory, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 21 (2019) 6178–6185.
❯ Grzegorz Greczynski, Linköping University, Sweden
“Paradigm shift in magnetron sputtering: from gas-ion to metal-ion-controlled irradiation of the growing film“
Grzegorz (Greg) Greczynski is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics, Linköping University (LiU). He heads the Fundamental Science of Thin Films Group of the Thin Film Physics Division and is one of the pioneers in high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) research through his present position at LiU and his previous employment at Chemfilt Ionsputtering, the original HiPIMS company. Greczynski received his PhD degree in surface science of organic materials in 2001 and has an eight-year industrial track record. In 2018 he was nominated Fellow of the American Vacuum Society for “seminal contributions to nondestructive XPS surface analysis, and the development of novel next-generation HiPIMS metal-ion deposition techniques”. His research interests are presently focused on low-energy ion/surface interactions (including both gas and metal ions) for nanostructure control during low-temperature growth of transition-metal-based nitride, boride, and carbide thin films by physical vapor deposition. In addition, Greczynski is also active in the field of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), with the aim to develop nondestructive analysis methods and to enhance the reliability of the technique. He has published 113 papers with more than 3700 citations.
Up until recently, thin film growth by magnetron sputtering relied on enhancing adatom mobility in the surface region by gas ion irradiation to obtain dense layers at low deposition temperatures. However, inherently low degree of ionization in the sputtered material flux during direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS), owing to relatively low plasma densities involved, prevented systematic exploration of the effects of metal-ion irradiation on the film nanostructure, phase content, and physical properties. The situation changed recently with the development of high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), in which pulsed substrate bias is applied in synchronous to the metal-ion-rich portion of each pulse [1]. Careful choice of sputtering conditions allows exploitation of gas rarefaction effects such that the charge state, energy, and momentum of metal ions incident at the growing film surface can be controlled. In contrast to gas-ions, a fraction of which are trapped at interstitial sites, metal-ions are primarily incorporated at lattice sites resulting in much lower compressive stresses. In addition, the closer mass match with the film-forming species results in more efficient momentum transfer and provides the recoil density and energy necessary to eliminate film porosity at low growth temperatures.
In the first part of the talk the results of time-resolved mass spectrometry analyses performed at the substrate position during HiPIMS and HiPIMS/DCMS co-sputtering of transition-metal (TM) targets in Ar and Ar/N2 atmospheres are reviewed. Knowledge of the temporal evolution of metal- and gas-ion fluxes is essential for precise control of the incident metal-ion energy and minimizing the role of gas-ion irradiation. Several examples of novel film-growth pathways are described in the second part of the presentation: (i) nanostructured N-doped bcc-CrN0.05 films combining properties of both metals and ceramics, (ii) fully-dense, hard, and stress-free Ti0.39Al0.61N, (iii) single-phase cubic Ti1-xSixN with the highest reported SiN concentrations, (iv) unprecedented AlN supersaturation in single-phase NaCl-structure V1-xAlxN, (v) a dramatic increase in the hardness, due to selective heavy-metal-ion bombardment during growth, of dense Ti0.92Ta0.08N and Ti0.41Al0.51Ta0.08N films deposited with no external heating, and (vi) simultaneous increase in both hardness and toughness of Zr1-xTaxBy layers deposited with synchronized Ta+ irradiation.
Finally, Ti1-xTaxN alloys grown with no external heating are shown to produce high-quality Cu diffusion barriers and provide excellent corrosion protection for stainless-steel substrates.
[1] G. Greczynski, I. Petrov, J.E. Greene, and L. Hultman, JVSTA 37 (2019) 060801
❯ Colin Hall, University of South Australia, SA, Australia
“Regenerative, robust, and decorative thin films on plastics”
Plastics find applications in every part of our life, often they need to be surface engineered to meet a particular need. This presentation will cover three case studies of how coatings can impart useful properties to plastics. Firstly a “regenerative” coating, deposited via plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD), this coating produces a non-stick surface, that after damage can self-heal. Secondly, a robust multi-layer coating for automotive use, aimed at replacing electroplated plastic. Finally, a decorative metallic coating that allows hidden till lit features, which is suitable for decorative applications in cars and homes. The choice of material, coating structure and deposition method are all critical steps required to develop coating systems for practical applications. The various approaches used in the three case studies will be discussed.
Colin Hall is an Industry Associate Professor at the Future Industries Institute (University of South Australia). He leads a research team focused on developing robust coating systems for aerospace, mining, automotive and energy applications. This work spans fundamental research, developing and operating deposition systems through to tech transfer and commercialization of the group’s research. In 2016 he was recognized for this work with the Prime Ministers Prize for New Innovators. Colin has worked in private industry for 9 years, in both R&D and production positions around the world. Since entering academia, he has completed his PhD and over the 16 years has focused on industry engaged research.
❯ Jyh-Wei Lee, Ming Chi University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
“Optimization of transition metal nitride, boronitride and oxynitride coatings grown by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering using plasma monitoring and diagnostic techniques”
Prof. Jyh-Wei Lee is currently a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Materials Engineering at Ming Chi University of Technology (MCUT), Taiwan and Joint Appointment Professor, College of Engineering at Chang Gung University, Taiwan. He is also the Group Leader of the Center for Plasma and Thin Film Technologies, MCUT since 2010. Prof. Lee is a Member of the Editorial Board of Surface & Coatings Technology. He was the 10th President of the Taiwan Association for Coating and Thin Film Technology (TACT) during 2018-2019.
His research focuses on the development of plasma-based thin film technologies for nanocomposite and nanolaminated nitride, carbonitride and boronitride hard coatings. His most current research is on the development of high entropy alloy thin films and thin film metallic glass materials. He is skilled in high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS), pulsed dc magnetron sputtering, cathodic arc evaporation deposition and plasma electrolytic oxidation techniques, plasma diagnosis, nanoindentation, AFM and related nanomechanical testing methods.
Reactive sputtering for coatings has been widely used in many industrial applications. The target poisoning issue is important for reactive sputtering when a compound thin film is deposited at the sputtering target surface causing a decreased deposition rate. High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), which has been under development for more than 20 years, has opened a new era in surface engineering and functionalization of coatings for many applications. In terms of process control, reactive HiPIMS has greater challenges than its non-reactive counterpart, as such, proper working conditions must be chosen including: the duty cycle, frequency, reactive gas ratio, etc. Consequently, plasma monitoring and diagnostic techniques for understanding the plasma status and target poisoning ratio become very useful during the reactive HiPIMS. The latter include, plasma sampling mass spectrometry (PSM), optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and plasma emission monitoring (PEM) techniques. The time-averaged ion energy distribution function (IEDF) provided by a PSM plasma ion analyzer can give information on ions arriving at the substrate during deposition. Meanwhile, the OES signal supplies information on the level of target poisoning and/or the partial pressure of the reactive gas in the chamber. Through a rapid feedback control of piezoelectric valves by the PEM system, the partial pressure, the inlet reactive gas rate into the sputtering system and the stoichiometry of a thin film can be well controlled.
In this work, PSM, OES and PEM techniques were used to study the fabrication of TiN, ZrN, TiCrSiN, TiCrBN and CrxCy hard coatings by reactive HiPIMS and reactive superimposed HiPIMS-MF systems. The PSM technique was employed to diagnose the influence of the radio frequency target power on the plasma status during the deposition of TiCrSiN hard coatings by a reactive hybrid HiPIMS-RF system. The PEM technique was adopted for growing TiN, ZrN, TiCrSiN, TiCrBN and CrxCy hard coatings at different target poisoning ratios by a reactive superimposed HiPIMS-MF technique. Effects of different PEM controlled target poisoning ratios on the microstructure, chemical composition and mechanical properties of such hard coatings are discussed. The important key factors of plasma monitoring and diagnostic techniques for the deposition of hard coatings by reactive HiPIMS are highlighted in this work.
Figure 1: Hardness and elastic modulus of TiCrBN coatings grown under different target poisoning ratios.
[1] A. Anders., “Tutorial: Reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (R-HiPIMS),” J. Appl. Phys. 121 (2017) 171101-34.
Keywords: Reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), Plasma sampling mass spectrometry (PSM), Optical emission spectroscopy (OES), Plasma emission monitoring (PEM), TiN, ZrN, TiCrSiN, TiCrBN, CrxCy
❯ Michel Lequime, Fresnel Institute, Marseille, France
“Metamaterials and metasurfaces: Interrogations, challenges and opportunities“
❯ David R. McKenzie, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
“Managing energy flows in tall glass cities by built-in next generation photovoltaics”
Information will be added shortly.
The Heat Island Effect in cities has the potential to reduce quality of life in many of the world’s most populous cities by locally raising outside temperatures. At the heart of the problem is the energy intensity of indoor climate control that requires ever increasing amounts of energy to sustain. Inconvenient facts of thermodynamics drive a positive feedback that exaggerates the problem. The detailed management of heat gains and losses using new technologies of vacuum glazing and the next generation of transparent high efficiency thin film photovoltaics is the best way to reduce the importation of energy into cities, assisted by convenient facts of optics. In this paper, I will discuss ways to make better use of available light using customised photovoltaic design and ways in which energy flows can be managed using glass-integrated thin film devices that incorporate metal-halide perovskite solar cells. These solar cells can be designed to maximise the use of parts of the solar spectrum for energy production. A key aspect of the designs is the underlying science of glass, which has ion diffusion properties that allow in glass fabrication of devices for energy transport and signal transmission.
❯ Frédéric Schuster, CEA PTCMP, Saclay, France
“High performance coating technologies for extreme environments and low carbon energies”
Frederic Schuster is a CEA international expert in the field of materials science and especially in surface engineering. During 8 years he was in charge of CEA surface engineering laboratory at CEA-Grenoble. He began his career in the industry as manager of surface treatment activities in the Usinor steel group, now Arcelor-Mittal, where he helped industrialize PVD technologies for steel surface functionalization. Frederic Schuster is graduated from the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse. He got the award of the Institute in 1990 for his PhD work on MOCVD technology. It is also laureate of the RIST price from French Metallurgy and Materials Society. In 2018, Frederic Schuster was awarded from the French Nuclear Energy Society for his work on HiPIMS coatings for accident tolerant fuels. He is the author of numerous industry technology transfers and more than 15 patents on surface engineering and nanomaterials. Metallurgical coatings and thin films have been developed in the field of high performance metallurgy since a long time ago. This surface functionalization, more and more integrated from the beginning in the steps of design of efficient architectures having to work in environments sometimes extreme and often complex, is the result of the implementation of surface treatment processes sometimes quite old, sometimes much more emerging. Very often, it is the increase of the service life of the components that is the main driver for the development of surface engineering in the metallurgy field. The coatings must often operate under combined stresses such as: mechanical and corrosion, oxidation and irradiation, corrosion and irradiation. In general, the design of a coating must be done on the basis of precise specifications and the choice of the method of elaboration must be made taking into account a certain number of scientific, technological, economical and environmental criteria. Material efficiency, especially when it comes to using for example critical metals as well as the recyclability of scarce resources can also, in some cases, become one of the criteria of choice. Surface engineering is one of the key technologies for the development of low carbon energies, along with 3D printing and safe nanomanufacturing. We are more and more witnessing a convergence of these three families of processes which leads either to an incremental innovation, or to a breakthrough innovation. Surface engineering, both in the field of thin films, but also for thermal spray technologies, has made many advances in the past two decades, making possible applications that were not in the past. This is particularly the case with developments in extreme environments, particularly for the nuclear energy sector, but also for the aerospace sector. In the PVD field, the development of HiPIMS technology is now very close to the production of protective coatings for EATF (Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuels) but is also under development in the field of nuclear fuel reprocessing. This very generic technology is also developed in the energy efficiency sector. In the field of CVD, the great diversity of organometallic chemistry offers real opportunities for the development of DLI-MOCVD (or ALD), and recent advances concerning the upscaling of technology will be presented, in particular for applications in the nuclear energy field. The great versatility of the process will also be presented. We will also illustrate the convergence between nanotechnologies and surface engineering technologies using two examples from thermal projection / nanotechnologies hybridization and PVD / nanoparticles generation coupling. Finally, as for all development and implementation processes, surface engineering benefits greatly from digital technologies progresses, in particular Artificial Intelligence, that makes the optimization of complex processes faster.
Since 2006, Frederic Schuster is Director of the Cross-Disciplinary Program on Material Science & Engineering at CEA. He previously held the position of deputy director of the Institute for Renewable Energies (CEA/Liten) from 2003 to 2006. In parallel, he initiated and managed the European program Nanosafe on risk management in the field of nanotechnology from 2005 to 2010 and continues to structure a multidisciplinary approach in partnership with Canada, Japan and the US on this issue. He is also Director of the IMPACT International Chair at National Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology at CEA and University of Paris-Saclay.
❯ Luc Stafford, Université de Montréal, QC, Canada
“Surface engineering of cellulose nanomaterials for packaging and energy applications”
Luc Stafford is a full professor in the Département de Physique of the Université de Montréal. Since June 2016, he holds the Canada Research Chair on the Physics of Highly Reactive Plasmas (PPHARE, Physique des Plasmas Hautement Réactifs). The driving motivation of this research program is related to the crucial needs for advancing the macro and microscopic levels of understanding of the physical and chemical phenomena involved in non-equilibrium plasma processing of materials as required for optimizing the characteristics of functional thin films and low-dimensional materials for a given technological application. In this context, important research efforts have been devoted to the development of advanced non-equilibrium plasma sources as well as innovative plasma and surface diagnostic tools to monitor the number density and energy distribution of charged and reactive neutral species as well as the reaction kinetics driving their interactions with plasma-exposed materials. Some of his contributions include, for example, the development and use of trace-rare-gases optical emission spectroscopy to examine resonance effects and wave-particle interactions in low-pressure microwave plasmas as well as the development and use of optical emission spectroscopy combined with collisional-radiative modeling to examine electron energy dissipation in dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) and microwave plasmas at atmospheric pressure in presence of reactive species relevant for materials processing. Novel applications have also been explored, including the value maximization of wooden materials using DBDs at atmospheric pressure, the plasma-assisted modification and functionalization of graphene films using the flowing afterglow of microwave plasmas at reduced pressure, the deposition of antifog coatings using either Townsend DBDs or microwave plasma jets, the development of superhydrophobic and icephobic coatings using atmospheric-pressure plasma jets, and the development of water-soluble, bio-based electrodes modified by plasma for stable aqueous Li-ion batteries.
Wood components have been used as a building material for centuries. In light of the growing concern over the environmental impact of human industrial activity, wood has taken on a new importance worldwide. The main advantages of this widely-distributed and renewable resource lie in its versatility, strength-to-weight characteristics, ease of processing, aesthetics, and its sustainability as a green-material. Its bio-polymeric structure, however, renders it susceptible to degradation due to moisture, microorganisms, insects, fire, and ultraviolet radiation. Over the last decade, we have shown that non-thermal plasmas represent a very promising approach for tailoring the surface properties of wood-based materials for both improvement of existing protection systems [1,2] or as standalone treatment for the growth of functional coatings [3-4]. More recently, inspired by the development of advanced methods for deconstructing the de-lignified wood tracheids (fibres) into micro and nano fibres on an industrial scale, we have explored the plasma-assisted functionalization of highly porous microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) films and foams. In this presentation, the scientific and technological accomplishments associated with the surface engineering of these materials for packaging and energy applications are reviewed.
[1] J. Prégent, L. Vandsburger, V. Blanchard, P. Blanchet, B. Riedl, A. Sarkissian, L. Stafford, Cellulose 22(5), 3397-3408 (2015).
[2] J. Prégent, L. Vandsburger, V. Blanchard, P. Blanchet, B. Riedl, A. Sarkissian, L. Stafford, Cellulose 22(1), 811-827 (2015).
[3] O. Levasseur, L. Stafford, N. Gherardi, N. Naudé, P. Blanchet, B. Riedl, and A. Sarkissan, Surf. Coat. Technol. 234, 42 (2013).
[4] J. Profili, O. Levasseur, N. Naudé, L. Stafford, N. Gherardi, Surf. Coat. Technol. 309, 729 (2017).
❯ Chris H. Stoessel, Eastman Chemical Co., Palo Alto, CA, USA
“Surface functionalization with layer-by-layer self-assembly: A versatile coating technology achieves industrial scale”
Chris H. Stoessel is a Senior Process Development Manager at Eastman Chemical Co.’s Palo Alto Advanced Technology Center (formerly Southwall Technologies Inc.) in Palo Alto, California. As a member of the Corporate Innovation group, he manages projects to develop new deposition processes and products, primarily focused on roll-to-roll coating technologies. He holds a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering (Materials Science) from the Rheinische Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (Germany), and conducted post-doctoral studies under Rointan Bunshah at UCLA. He has developed thin-film products and deposition processes for a wide range of applications such as tribology, superconducting films, optical coatings (at OCLI/JDS-Uniphase), MEMS, OLED (at DuPont Displays), energy-efficient glazings (at Southwall Technologies/Eastman Chemical Co.), and flexible hybrid electronics (FHE). Chris contributes to several professional organizations in the thin film coating community.
Self-limiting surface functionalization techniques have great appeal to the surface engineering and coating industry due to their precisely controllable thickness, uniform coverage, and predictable morphology. For vacuum deposition, Atomic or Molecular Layer Deposition (ALD / MLD) are well-known methods. Although not a vacuum-coating technology, wet-applied Layer-by-Layer (LbL) employs electrostatic self-assembly at the nanoscale to achieve similar coating characteristics for a wide range of applications. LbL can play an important role in complementing vacuum deposition methods, particularly if roll-to-roll (R2R) processing can be achieved.
LbL has been investigated in the academic realm for over twenty years, resulting in broad material sets for diverse use case scenarios. However, it took a breakthrough in process technology to advance the technique from a batch-based process to a continuous multi-layer concept that is suitable for economical feasibility of LbL through large-scale R2R manufacturing.
This talk will present a brief background of the underlying principle of electrostatic self-assembly, highlight some attractive application examples and the underlying material sets, and explains how the constraints of bench-top processing have been overcome to enable industrial scale-up.
❯ Michael Stueber, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
“Overview and recent developments on selected types of magnetron sputtered ceramic coatings for engineering applications”
Michael Stueber, born 1965, studied Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Karlsruhe, Germany, and received a Diploma Degree in 1991. He then joined the research group of Professor Holleck at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany. In 1997 he received a Ph.D. degree from the Technical University of Karlsruhe for his thesis on “Magnetron sputtered superhard amorphous carbon films with graded layer design”. Today he is group leader at the Department of Composites and Thin Films of the Institute for Applied Materials (IAM-AWP) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). His research is related with the development and synthesis of high performance thin films for engineering applications. Michael Stueber is co-author of more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and holds several patents. He served the thin film community in various functions, for example the Executive Committee of the Advanced Surface Engineering Division of the AVS. He is elected AVS trustee 2017-2019, and was program and general chair of ICMCTF in 2018/2019. He is member of the editorial board of Surface and Coatings Technology. In 2015 he has been awarded AVS Fellow.
Key industrial sectors such as automotive and manufacturing industries face enormous challenges with regards to the transformation into a new era, characterized by huge innovations in mobility, environmentally friendly technologies and sustainability. This transformation requires the development of technical solutions based on innovations in materials and their processes, especially in the field of surface engineering and coatings. Currently, there is a strong trend towards making use of computational methods in modeling and simulation to establish a knowledge-based material development. Complementary, clever experimental methods such as combinatorial approaches complete this picture by allowing to implement materials data bases with real physical data (so called materials libraries). This has been well proven in the fields of protective and functional surface coatings and thin films recently.
In this presentation, such combinatorial experiments dedicated to the design and synthesis of multifunctional PVD coatings for applications in automotive and manufacturing applications will be discussed. Three prominent classes of protective thin film materials will be discussed. The presentation will focus on model material systems and conventional magnetron sputtering as a model PVD process to outline major aspects of the materials development. These materials include wear resistant, low friction nanostructured carbon-based composite coatings (consisting of a nanocrystalline transition metal carbide phase and an amorphous carbon phase, e.g. TiC/a-C), novel oxide thin films (with main focus on solid solution thin films with corundum-type structure such as (Al,Cr)2O3), and ternary transition metal diboride thin films (based on TiB2). For all these materials, a brief introduction into the state-of-the-art and newest developments will be given, and main research objectives will be discussed.