Effectivity of plasma etching on template removal of reverse micelle deposited nanoparticles

Polymer templated nanoparticles, such as with diblock copolymers, are useful for improving thin-film optical devices by the modification of interfaces between different layers. The existence of an insulating polymer is a challenge to the application of templated nanoparticles. In this paper, we address this issue by assessing the effectivity of gas plasmas in the removal of the polymer templates from a thin film of loaded diblock copolymer reverse micelles to produce iron oxide nanoparticles. Using Raman spectroscopy, we have described a method that can be used to evaluate polymer removal effectivity which can be employed equally for different systems, and was used to quantify other polymer removal methods such as UV/ozone exposure and electron bombardment. We found that a mixture of reactive ion etching and ionic bombardment is highly effective for oxide materials and can be accomplished by leaking air in pure gas plasmas.

Automated summary

This paper presents a study on the effectiveness of gas plasmas in the removal of polymer templates for the production of iron oxide nanoparticles. The Raman spectroscopy method is used to evaluate the polymer removal effectiveness and quantify other removal methods. The study finds that a combination of reactive ion etching and ionic bombardment is highly effective for oxide materials.