Chain assemblies from nanoparticles synthesized by atmospheric pressure plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition: The computational view

This article refers to the computational study of nanoparticle self-organization on the solid-state substrate surface with consideration of the experimental results, when nanoparticles were synthesised during atmospheric pressure plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (AP-PECVD). The experimental study of silicon dioxide nanoparticle synthesis by AP-PECVD demonstrated that all deposit volume consists of tangled chains of nanoparticles. In certain cases, micron-sized fractals are formed from tangled chains due to deposit rearrangement. This work is focused on the study of tangled chain formation only. In order to reveal their formation mechanism, a physico-mathematical model was developed. The suggested model was based on the motion equation solution for charged and neutral nanoparticles in the potential fields with the use of the empirical interaction potentials. In addition, the computational simulation was carried out based on the suggested model. As a result, the influence of such experimental parameters as deposition duration, particle charge, gas flow velocity, and angle of gas flow was found. It was demonstrated that electrical charges carried by nanoparticles from the discharge area are not responsible for the formation of tangled chains from nanoparticles, whereas nanoparticle kinetic energy plays a crucial role in deposit morphology and density. The computational results were consistent with experimental results.