Abstract: We study the mechanisms of CO2 conversion in a nanosecond repetitively pulsed (NRP) discharge, by means of a chemical kinetics model. The calculated conversions and energy efficiencies are in reasonable agreement with experimental results over a wide range of specific energy input values, and the same applies to the evolution of gas temperature and CO2 conversion as a function of time in the afterglow, indicating that our model provides a realistic picture of the underlying mechanisms in the NRP discharge and can be used to identify its limitations and thus to suggest further improvements. Our model predicts that vibrational excitation is very important in the NRP discharge, explaining why this type of plasma yields energy-efficient CO2 conversion. A significant part of the CO2 dissociation occurs by electronic excitation from the lower vibrational levels toward repulsive electronic states, thus resulting in dissociation. However, vibration−translation (VT) relaxation (depopulating the higher vibrational levels) and CO + O recombination (CO + O + M → CO2 + M), as well as mixing of the converted gas with fresh gas entering the plasma in between the pulses, are limiting factors for the conversion and energy efficiency. Our model predicts that extra cooling, slowing down the rate of VT relaxation and of the above recombination reaction, thus enhancing the contribution of the highest vibrational levels to the overall CO2 dissociation, can further improve the performance of the NRP discharge for energy-efficient CO2 conversion.

Abstract: Nonequilibrium plasmas offer a pathway for energy-efficient CO2 conversion through vibrationally induced dissociation. However, the efficiency of this pathway is limited by a rise in gas temperature, which increases vibrational−translational (VT) relaxation and quenches the vibrational levels. Therefore, we investigate here the effect of plasma pulsing on the VT nonequilibrium and on the CO2 conversion by means of a zerodimensional chemical kinetics model, with self-consistent gas temperature calculation. Specifically, we show that higher energy efficiencies can be reached by correctly tuning the plasma pulse and interpulse times. The ideal plasma pulse time corresponds to the time needed to reach the highest vibrational temperature. In addition, the highest energy efficiencies are obtained with long interpulse times, that is, ≥0.1 s, in which the gas temperature can entirely drop to room temperature. Furthermore, additional cooling of the reactor walls can give higher energy efficiencies at shorter interpulse times of 1 ms. Finally, our model shows that plasma pulsing can significantly improve the energy efficiency at low reduced electric fields (50 and 100 Td, typical for microwave and gliding arc plasmas) and intermediate ionization degrees (5 × 10−7 and 10−6).

Abstract: To gain full control over the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), a thorough understanding of the underlying plasma-catalyst mechanisms is required. Oxygen-containing species are often used as or added to the growth precursor gas, but these species also yield various radicals and ions, which may simultaneously etch the CNT during the growth. At present, the effect of these reactive species on the growth onset has not yet been thoroughly investigated. We here report on the etching mechanism of incipient CNT structures from OH and O radicals as derived from combined (reactive) molecular dynamics (MD) and force-bias Monte Carlo (tfMC) simulations. Our results indicate that the oxygen-containing radicals initiate a dissociation process. In particular, we show how the oxygen species weaken the interaction between the CNT and the nanocluster. As a result of this weakened interaction, the CNT closes off and dissociates from the cluster in the form of a fullerene. Beyond the specific systems studied in this work, these results are generically important in the context of PECVD-based growth of CNTs using oxygen-containing precursors.

Abstract: Molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the size-dependent melting mechanism of nickel nanoclusters of various sizes. The melting process was monitored by the caloric curve, the overall cluster Lindemann index, and the atomic Lindemann index. Size-dependent melting temperatures were determined, and the correct linear dependence on inverse diameter was recovered. We found that the melting mechanism gradually changes from dynamic coexistence melting to surface melting with increasing cluster size. These findings are of importance in better understanding carbon nanotube growth by catalytic chemical vapor deposition as the phase state of the catalyst nanoparticle codetermines the growth mechanism.

Abstract: The phase transition processes induced by ultrashort, 100 fs pulsed laser irradiation of Au, Cu, and Ni are studied by means of a combined atomistic-continuum approach. A moderately low absorbed laser fluence range, from 200 to 600 J/m2 is considered to study phase transitions by means of a local and a nonlocal order parameter. At low laser fluences, the occurrence of layer-by-layer evaporation has been observed, which suggests a direct solid to vapor transition. The calculated amount of molten material remains very limited under the conditions studied, especially for Ni. Therefore, our results show that a kinetic equation that describes a direct solid to vapor transition might be the best approach to model laser-induced phase transitions by continuum models. Furthermore, the results provide more insight into the applicability of analytical superheating theories that were implemented in continuum models and help the understanding of nonequilibrium phase transitions.

Abstract: Using reactive molecular dynamics simulations, we have investigated the effect of single-impact, low-energy (thermal-100 eV) bombardment of a Si(100){2 × 1} surface by atomic and molecular oxygen. Penetration probability distributions, as well as defect formation distributions, are presented as a function of the impact energy for both species. It is found that at low impact energy, defects are created chemically due to the chemisorption process in the top layers of the surface, while at high impact energy, additional defects are created by a knock-on displacement of Si. These results are of particular importance for understanding device performances of silica-based microelectronic and photovoltaic devices.

Abstract: This contribution presents the effects of a mild O2 plasma treatment on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of single-layer (SLG) and bilayer graphene (BLG). Unexpectedly, we observe only photoluminescence in the SLG parts of a graphene flake composed of regions of various thickness upon O2 plasma treatment, whereas the BLG and few-layer graphene (FLG) parts remain optically unchanged. Confirmed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) that O2 plasma induces epoxide and hydroxyl-like groups in graphene, density functional theory (DFT) calculations are carried out on representative epoxidized and hydroxylated SLG and BLG models to predict density of states (DOS) and band structures. Sufficiently oxidized SLG shows a bandgap and thus loss of semimetallic behavior, while oxidized BLG maintains its semimetallic behavior even at high oxygen density in agreement with the results of the photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) experiments. DFT calculations confirm that the Fermi velocity in epoxidized BLG is remarkably comparable with that of pristine SLG, pointing to a similarity of electronic band structure. The similarity is also experimentally demonstrated by the electrical characterization of a plasma-treated BLG-FET. As expected from the electronegative oxygen adatoms in the graphene, epoxidized BLG presents conductive features typical of hole doping. Moreover, the electrical characteristics suggest band structures closely related to that of epoxidized graphene while deviating from that of hydroxylated graphene. Finally, upon O2 plasma treatment of BLG, the four-component 2D peak around 2700 cm1 in the Raman spectrum evolves into a single Lorentzian line, very like the 2D peak of pristine SLG. Summarizing, the data in this contribution recommend that a controlled O2 plasma treatment, which is compatible with CMOS process flow in contrast to wet chemical oxidation methods, provides an efficient and valuable technique to exploit the transport properties of the bottom layer of BLG.

Abstract: In this paper, the splitting of CO2 in a pulsed plasma system, such as a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), is evaluated from a chemical point of view by means of numerical modeling. For this purpose, a chemical reaction set of CO2 in an atmospheric pressure plasma is developed, including the vibrational states of CO2, O2, and CO. The simulated pulses are matched to the conditions of a filament (or microdischarge) and repeated with intervals of 1 μs. The influence of vibrationally excited CO2 as well as other neutral species, ions, and electrons on the CO2 splitting is discussed. Our calculations predict that the electrons have the largest contribution to the CO2 splitting at the conditions under study, by electron impact dissociation. The contribution of vibrationally excited CO2 levels in the splitting of CO2 is found be 6.4%, when only considering one microdischarge pulse and its afterglow, but it can be much higher for consecutive discharge pulses, as is typical for a filamentary DBD, when the interpulse time is short enough and accumulation effects in the vibrationally excited CO2 densities can occur.

Abstract: The adsorption probability and reaction behavior of CHx plasma species on various nickel catalyst surfaces is investigated by means of reactive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the ReaxFF potential. Such catalysts are used in the reforming of hydrocarbons and in the growth of carbon nanotubes, and further insight in the underlying mechanisms of these processes is needed to increase their applicability. Single and consecutive impacts of CHx radicals (x={1,2,3}) were performed on four different Ni surfaces, at a temperature of 400 K. The adsorption probability is shown to be related to the number of free electrons, i.e. a higher number leads to more adsorptions, and the steric hindrance caused by the hydrogen atoms bonded to the impacting CHx species. Furthermore, some of the CH bonds break after adsorption, which generally leads to diffusion of the hydrogen atom over the surface. Additionally, these adsorbed H-atoms can be used in reactions to form new molecules, such as CH4 and C2Hx, although this is dependent on the precise morphology of the surface. New molecules are also formed by subtraction of H-atoms from adsorbed radicals, leading to occasional formation of H2 and C2Hx molecules.

Abstract: Continued miniaturization of metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) requires an ever-decreasing thickness of the gate oxide. The structure of ultrathin silicon oxide films, however, critically depends on the oxidation mechanism. Using reactive atomistic simulations, we here demonstrate how the oxidation mechanism in hyperthermal oxidation of such structures may be controlled by the oxidation temperature and the oxidant energy. Specifically, we study the interaction of hyperthermal oxygen with energies of 15 eV with thin SiOx (x ≤ 2) films with a native oxide thickness of about 10 Å. We analyze the oxygen penetration depth probability and compare with results of the hyperthermal oxidation of a bare Si(100){2 × 1} (c-Si) surface. The temperature-dependent oxidation mechanisms are discussed in detail. Our results demonstrate that, at low (i.e., room) temperature, the penetrated oxygen mostly resides in the oxide region rather than at the SiOx|c-Si interface. However, at higher temperatures, starting at around 700 K, oxygen atoms are found to penetrate and to diffuse through the oxide layer followed by reaction at the c-Si boundary. We demonstrate that hyperthermal oxidation resembles thermal oxidation, which can be described by the DealGrove model at high temperatures. Furthermore, defect creation mechanisms that occur during the oxidation process are also analyzed. This study is useful for the fabrication of ultrathin silicon oxide gate oxides for metal-oxide-semiconductor devices as it links parameters that can be straightforwardly controlled in experiment (oxygen temperature, velocity) with the silicon oxide structure.

Abstract: Nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasmas are gaining increasing attention for biomedical applications. However, very little fundamental information on the interaction mechanisms between the plasma species and biological cells is currently available. We investigate the interaction of important plasma species, such as OH, H2O2, O, O3, as well as O2 and H2O, with bacterial peptidoglycan by means of reactive molecular dynamics simulations, aiming for a better understanding of plasma disinfection. Our results show that OH, O, O3, and H2O2 can break structurally important bonds of peptidoglycan (i.e., CO, CN, or CC bonds), which consequently leads to the destruction of the bacterial cell wall. The mechanisms behind these breakups are, however, dependent on the impinging plasma species, and this also determines the effectiveness of the cell wall destruction.

Abstract: The adsorption of C and CHx radicals on anatase (001) was studied using DFT within the generalized gradient approximation using the Perde-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) functional. We have studied the influence of oxygen vacancies in and at the surface on the adsorption properties of the radicals. For the oxygen vacancies in anatase (001), the most stable vacancy is located at the surface. For this vacancy, the maximal adsorption strength of C and CH decreases compared to the adsorption on the stoichiometric surface, but it increases for CH2 and CH3. If an oxygen vacancy is present in the first subsurface layer, the maximal adsorption strength increases for C, CH, CH2, and CH3. When the vacancy is present in the next subsurface layer, we find that only the CH3 adsorption is enhanced, while the maximal adsorption energies for the other radical species decrease. Not only does the precise location of the oxygen vacancy determine the maximal adsorption interaction, it also influences the adsorption strengths of the radicals at different surface configurations. This determines the probability of finding a certain adsorption configuration at the surface, which in turn influences the possible surface reactions. We find that C preferentially adsorbs far away from the oxygen vacancy, while CH2 and CH3 adsorb preferentially at the oxygen vacancy site. A fraction of CH partially adsorbs at the oxygen vacancy, and another fraction adsorbs further away from the vacancy.

Abstract: A method has been developed for damage-free cesium (Cs) encapsulation within single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with fine position selectivity. Precise energy tuning of Cs-ion irradiation revealed that there is a clear energy window (2060 eV) for the efficient encapsulation of Cs through the hexagonal network of SWNT sidewalls without causing significant damage. This minimum energy threshold of Cs-ion encapsulation (∼20 eV) matches well with the value obtained by ab initio simulation (∼22 eV). Furthermore, position-selective Cs encapsulation was carried out, resulting in the successful formation of pn-junction SWNT thin films with excellent environmental stability.

Abstract: A chemical kinetics model is developed for a CO2/N2 microwave plasma, focusing especially on the vibrational levels of both CO2 and N2. The model is used to calculate the CO2 and N2 conversion as well as the energy efficiency of CO2 conversion for different power densities and for N2 fractions in the CO2/N2 gas mixture ranging from 0 to 90%. The calculation results are compared with measurements, and agreements within 23% and 33% are generally found for the CO2 conversion and N2 conversion, respectively. To explain the observed trends, the destruction and formation processes of both CO2 and N2 are analyzed, as well as the vibrational distribution functions of both CO2 and N2. The results indicate that N2 contributes in populating the lower asymmetric levels of CO2, leading to a higher absolute CO2 conversion upon increasing N2 fraction. However, the effective CO2 conversion drops because there is less CO2 initially present in the gas mixture; thus, the energy efficiency also drops with rising N2 fraction.