The Plasmas and Nanomaterials Laboratory (formerly the Plasmas and Aerosols Laboratory) came to fruition in 2012 at Michigan State University. Since then, the main focus for the Lab has been focused on:
- plasma-based synthesis of functional nanocrystals
- vapor phase processing
- gas-phase deposition techniques
Within the lab, there are several argon plasma reactors designed for various purposes. The Stretchable Films reactor is equipped to handle elastic polymers and other various substrates to study the impact of nanocrystals onto these substrates. The NanoRods reactor is designed to synthesize colliodal nanocrystals, instead of the typical spherical growth of nanoparticles. The Gallium Nitride reactor is meant for the generation of gallium nitride/ indium nitride nanoparticles for use in electronic applications, such as LEDs.
From electronic applications to light emission applications, there is countless areas of study for the advancement of nanotechnology. In light of this, the lab expresses interest in many different applications of nanocrystals. Several of the projects look into the optical properties of nanocyrstals on various substrates as well as the photoluminesence and quantum yield of nanoparticles on porous substrates. Other projects study the controlled synthesis of nanoparticles, changing parameters to accurately determine the size and soon the shape of the nanoparticle growth. More recently, the lab has begun studying the biomedical applications of nanocrystals.