Extraction of a low-current discharge from a microplasma for nanoscale patterning applications at atmospheric pressure

The authors present a scheme to extract a low-current discharge from a microplasma at atmospheric pressure for nanopatterning applications. The extracted discharge is generated by applying a high positive voltage to an independent electrode and accelerating electrons from the microplasma. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the extracted discharge show high stability at low currents and tunability over a wide range of currents. Exposure of metal precursor loaded films to the extracted discharge results in electrochemical reduction of metal ions to solid metal, as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Combining this approach with masking techniques allows the transfer of nanoscale patterns of metal at ambient conditions.