FIB-assisted anodisation for meta-material preparation
Self-organised arrays of titania nanotubes or alumina nanopores have been prepared by anodisation techniques and find applications in data storage, photovoltaics, photocatalysis and biosensing. Recently, the use of pre-patterning techniques , such as focused ion beam (FIB) milling, have been introduced to improve the performances of these materials, permitting to prepare periodic arrays with a wider variety of sizes, shapes and geometries. However, the formation mechanisms are still incompletely understood. Although crystalline point defects are known to play a key role in the self-organised anodisation, the details of this process are not known, especially for the case of FIB-assisted anodisation.
In this project, we will use a FIB system to irradiate various metal surfaces with Gallium ions. The aim is to control the defect density resulting from ion implantation, hence the type of periodic structures formed by subsequent anodisation and ultimately generate a range of periodic nanomaterials for photonic or phononic crystal applications.
Personnel Involved
First Supervisor: Lemoine, P Dr
Second Supervisor: Byrne, J Dr
Collaboration: This project does not involve collaboration with another establishment