The Plasma Sources and Processing Lab at Michigan State university is directed by Dr. Qi Hua Fan, jointly appointed in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.
Our research focuses on combining plasma science with materials processing to facilitate the exploration of advanced functional coatings, next generation electro-optical devices, and energy storage devices.
High-density plasma source science and engineering. Plasma sources are vitally important for manufacturing functional coatings, flat panel displays, solar cells, semiconductor integrated circuits, and optical thin films. Our research combines advanced modeling with innovative designs to develop high-performance plasma sources, such as inductively coupled high-density plasmas, ion sources, sputtering magnetrons, and magnetically enhanced plasmas.
Plasma-assisted materials processing. The highly reactive species in plasmas enable efficient processing of advanced nanomaterials and surface engineering. We are particularly interested in understanding the gas-phase reactions and plasma-surface interactions. We use optical emission spectroscopy and probes to diagnose the reactions and plasma properties. Using a variety of plasma sources, we have been conducting research in diamond and diamond-like carbon coatings, piezoelectric thin films, transparent conductive oxide films, optical bio-sensors, and photovoltaic thin films and devices. We are also exploring plasma-assisted manufacturing of nanomaterials under the support of NSF. Our research on electro-optical thin films and optical filters includes extensive modeling using the state-of-the-art optical software.
Nanostructured materials for environmental remediation, energy storage and harvesting. We focus on nanoporous materials that have large active surface areas. We are particularly interested in using advanced plasma sources to modulate the surface chemistry and electric properties of carbon nanomaterials. Examples of ongoing projects include plasma activation of biochar for efficient removing of PFAS in drinking water, and plasma exfoliated graphene for supercapacitors.
Our lab is located in Engineering Research Complex on campus. We work closely with MSU-Fraunhofer Center for Coatings and Diamond Technologies to bridge the fundamental research with advanced applications.