Invited Paper PS+AS+EM+SS+TF-MoA8
John Thornton Memorial Award Lecture: Low Temperature Plasma-Materials Interactions: Foundations of Nanofabrication And Emerging Novel Applications At Atmospheric Pressure

Monday, October 21, 2019, 4:00 pm, Room B130

Our ability to understand and control the interactions of non-equilibrium plasma with surfaces of materials has been an exciting frontline and enabled the realization of new applications and technologies. The plasma-surface interactions (PSI) field has grown rapidly because of a number of reasons. First, plasma-assisted etching (PE) is one of the foundations of micro- and nanofabrication where increasingly atomistic precision in materials processing is required. By enabling the realization of intricate material features that semiconductor circuits and microstructures consist of, PE makes possible our technological tools that form modern society. This exceedingly complex procedure begins with the transfer of a resist mask in a directional and chemically selective fashion into various materials. Controlling profile shape, critical dimensions, surface roughness, and electrical integrity are crucial, and determined by PSI. Second, development of novel low temperature plasma sources operating at atmospheric pressure has enabled advances in areas where use of PSI has historically been limited, e.g. biology. In this talk I will present a brief review of contributions that I and my collaborators have been honored to make to our understanding of PSI, in particular in the areas of surface processes that are essential for achieving the objectives of plasma etching processes in current semiconductor fabrication that are approaching the atomic scale, and interaction of low temperature atmospheric pressure plasma sources with model polymers and biomolecules aimed at disinfection and sanitation of biological materials.