NANOSTRUCTURED COATINGS BY CLUSTER BEAM DEPOSITION: METHOD AND APPLICATIONS

摘要

One of the key issues to be addressed in order to exploit nanomaterial peculiar properties is the way devices, and surfaces in general, can be functionalized by nanomaterials. To allow the jump beyond lab-scale, deposition techniques are asked to fulfill requirements such as reliability and repeatability, batch deposition, scalability, compatibility with micromachining techniques. Here we show how supersonic cluster beam deposition, based on pulsed microplasma cluster source, may answer these requests, while offering at the same time a wide library of available nanomaterials, including carbon, oxides, and noble metals. The growth of nanostructured functional coating takes place directly onto whatever surface exposed in front of the cluster beam. Cluster soft-assembling generates nanoporosity and, as a consequence, coatings with large specific surface, which are particularly suited for applications where interaction with liquid solutions or gas-phase atmospheres has to be favored. Results on the integration of nanostructured coatings into devices with applicative purposes in sensing field and in biotech field, will be reported. They include gas sensing, stretch sensing, protein adsorption, cell adhesion, and selective capture of peptides, as examples of functions that may be added to devices by cluster beam deposition of nanomaterials.