Lecture: Diamond film surface nanostructures: morphology control, formation mechanism and applications

ABOUT THE LECTURE

The outstanding properties of diamond make it an excellent material for various device applications. It is known that the potential applications of materials depend not only on their intrinsic properties, but also on the surface geometries in which they appear. The extreme properties of diamond, however, make it difficult to be structured to a desired geometry. This presentation will review recent progress in nano-/micro-structuring techniques for diamond, in particular, a simple and applicable method developed by us to nanostructure diamond (ranging from microcrystalline to nanocrystalline) surfaces using bias-assisted reactive ion etching (RIE) in hydrogen/argon plasmas. Surface nanostructuring of diamond films is demonstrated to be an effective approach to extending and/or enhancing the properties of diamond relative to its bulk and film counterparts. Example applications of diamond nanostructures for in situ probing, cell-level drug delivery and electrocatalysis are discussed. 

ABOUT THE SPEAKER 

Wenjun Zhang studied physics and materials science at Lanzhou University. He was a post doc at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films (FhG-IST) in Braunschweig, Germany, from 1995 till 1997. He became a research fellow in City University of Hong Kong from 1997 till 1998, then spent two years in National Institute for Research in Inorganic Materials (NIRIM, merged to National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)), Japan as a Science and Technology Agency (STA) Fellow. In December 2000, he joined City University of Hong Kong again as a senior research fellow. He is now a Chair Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Department of Chemistry. He is also the director of the Center Of Super Diamond and Advanced Films (COSDAF) and the associate director of Hong Kong Institute of Clean Energy (HKICE). Prof. Zhang has been served as guest editor of Advanced Materials, associate editor of Nano-Micro Lett. (Springer), and editorial board member of Scientific Reports.
Prof. Zhang is appointed as a Visiting Professor in Siegen University, Germany; Guest Professor in Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (CAS), Hefei University of Technology, Soochow University, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (CAS), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University; and Cuiying Guest Professor of Lanzhou University.