Research by Blake D. Trickey

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Photopatterned Noble Metal Functional Surfaces Via Galvanic Replacement Reaction on Cu2O Thin Films

Student: Blake D. Trickey

School / Major: SE Missouri State Univ. / Physics

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Robert Coridan(CHEM)

Research Area(s):

Conventional Materials & Processes

Nanoscience & Engineering

Background/Relevance
  • Cuprous oxide is a semiconductor with a wide use of photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical applications due to small band gap, also strong for direct photoelectrodeposition.
  • Traditional photolithography used in many applications, such as structured electrocatalysts for energy conversion and microelectronics, but inefficient and time sensitive.

Innovation
  • A more direct way to photopattern structures being more time and cost effective.
  • Determine resolution limit of patterning.

Approach
  • Construct Michelson Interferometer.
  • Michelson Interferometer deemed incorrect, too unstable.
  • Construct 1mm pinhole, 405 nm laser, 3 cm away, then pattern from circular diffraction.
  • Analyze patterning size of local changed chemistry of Cu nanoinclusions in Cu2O at solution temperature of 60°C.
  • Use Galvanic replacement reaction to sacrifice Cu2O leaving behind Au.

Key Results
  • Determined spacing around ~20 µm
  • Galvanic replacement reaction washed away most of the pattern, leaving behind trace amounts of Au.
  • Many of the patterns created exhibited a “blurred” pattern, as only 7/26 provided “clean” results.

Conclusions
  • Patterning too intense in center from laser, too much Cu.
  • Effective small patterning method confirmed by direct photoelectrodeposition.
  • Future work desires to use a less intense laser to attempt to develop more Au.
  • Future work dedicated to constructing a Lloyd’s mirror setup to pattern lines of patterned structures rather than the circular patterns.

Research supported by

Acknowledgements to Dr. Robert Coridan and James Lowe for their support and assistance in the success of our project. Research Funded by NSF/EEC 1757979 REU: Tomorrow’s Nanomanufacturing: Engineering with Science (TNEWS), Summer 2018.