Overview
As part of the internship, the student will be involved in the research of plasma deposition of crystalline CuFeO2 layers with antiviral effects. The deposition of CuFeO2 layers will be carried out using the method of reactive pulsed magnetron sputtering with an additional high-frequency inductively coupled plasma operating in resonance with the electron cyclotron wave.
A key task will be to perform diagnostics of the reactive deposition plasma using a planar high-frequency probe (RF probe) directly during the deposition of the thin film. The RF probe is capable of measuring the ion flux to the substrate, ion concentration, electron concentration, and electron temperature, even in the technological deposition plasma where the probe is covered by a thin electrically non-conductive layer of CuFeO2. These plasma parameters significantly affect the growth conditions of this complex semiconductor oxide. By understanding these plasma parameters, it will be possible to control the properties of the deposited layer in terms of its physical characteristics. The influence of these parameters on the resulting antiviral effect of these types of thin films will also be investigated.
