A practical guide to pulsed laser deposition

Nanoscale thin films are widely implemented across a plethora of technological and scientific areas, and form the basis for many advancements that have driven human progress, owing to the high degree of functional tunability based on the chemical composition. Pulsed laser deposition is one of the multiple physical vapour deposition routes to fabricate thin films, employing laser energy to eject material from a target in the form of a plasma. A substrate, commonly a single-crystal oxide, is placed in the path of the plume and acts as a template for the arriving species from the target to coalesce and self-assemble into a thin film. This technique is tremendously useful to produce crystalline films, due to the wide range of atmospheric conditions and the extent of possible chemical complexity of the target. However, this flexibility results in a high degree of complexity, oftentimes requiring rigorous optimisation of the growth parameters to achieve high quality crystalline films with desired composition. In this tutorial review, we aim to reduce the complexity and the barrier to entry for the controlled growth of complex oxides by pulsed laser deposition. We present an overview of the fundamental and practical aspects of pulsed laser deposition, discuss the consequences of tailoring the growth parameters on the thin film properties, and describe in situ monitoring techniques that are useful in gaining a deeper understanding of the properties of the resultant films. Particular emphasis is placed on the general relationships between the growth parameters and the consequent structural, chemical and functional properties of the thin films. In the final section, we discuss the open questions within the field and possible directions to further expand the utility of pulsed laser deposition.ISSN:0306-0012ISSN:1460-474

3D printing of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene): a poling-free technique to manufacture flexible and transparent piezoelectric generators

Flexible piezoelectric generators (PEGs) present a unique opportunity for renewable and sustainable energy harvesting. Here, we present a low-temperature and low-energy deposition method using solvent evaporation-assisted three-dimensional printing to deposit electroactive poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-trifluoroethylene (TrFE) up to 19 structured layers. Visible-wavelength transmittance was above 92%, while ATR-FTIR spectroscopy showed little change in the electroactive phase fraction between layer depositions. Electroactivity from the fabricated PVDF-TrFE PEGs showed that a single structured layer gave the greatest output at 289.3 mV peak-to-peak voltage. This was proposed to be due to shear-induced polarization affording the alignment of the fluoropolymer dipoles without an electric field or high temperature

New developments in composites, copolymer technologies and processing techniques for flexible fluoropolymer piezoelectric generators for efficient energy harvesting

Flexible piezoelectric generators (PEGs) have recently attracted significant interest, as they are able to harvest mechanical energy and convert it to electricity, decreasing reliance on conventional energy sources. These devices enable innovative applications including smart clothing, wearable electronics, on-skin and implantable sensors, as well as harvesting energy from the movement of vehicles, water and wind. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) and related fluoropolymers are the most common flexible piezoelectric materials, widely utilized for their high electromechanical conversion efficiencies, optimal mechanical flexibility, processability and biocompatibility. This critical review covers the processing of fluoropolymers towards the maximization of piezoelectric conversion parameters. Particular emphasis is placed on the correlation between synthetic routes, inclusion of further co-monomers, addition of additives and nanomaterials, as well as processing techniques and the optimized electricity generation in the resultant PEGs, providing an important analysis to complement existing literature. The importance of novel polymer deposition techniques, which reduce reliance on the conventional, highly energetic post-processing steps, is highlighted. Recent advances in fluoropolymer-based flexible PEGs open an array of exciting applications, which rapidly progress towards commercialization. This review provides a timely analysis of this increasingly important field to the cross-disciplinary community of polymer chemists, materials scientists, nanotechnologists, engineers, and industry practitioners