Plasma Quest Ltd
University of York | Physics, Engineering and Technology

Creating advanced thin films without the heat

Thin films - extremely thin layers of material applied to a surface - are essential to technologies such as electronics, sensors and energy devices. Producing high-quality crystalline films often requires temperatures of several hundred degrees or more. That heat can damage flexible plastics and other temperature-sensitive materials, restricting where advanced coatings can be used.

Joshua’s research Pulsed Remote Plasma Sputtering (PRPS), is a breakthrough deposition technique that uses rapid pulses of plasma to precisely deliver the energy where it's needed - at the atomic level - enabling crystalline to form at room temperature, without heating the whole underlying component.

The project will have a focus on materials such as Aluminium Nitride and Hexagonal Boron Nitride and if successful, the approach could make it easier to manufacture hydrogen fuel cells and wearables that require bendable electronics and sensors.