Photoelectric fluid field cluster catalytic method for atomic-scale deterministic processing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12325017-B2
Application number	US-202519015383-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 9, 2025
Priority date	Feb 20, 2024
Publication date	Jun 10, 2025
Grant date	Jun 10, 2025

Abstract

A photoelectric fluid field cluster catalytic method for atomic-scale deterministic processing, comprises the following steps: selecting nanoparticles with photocatalytic activity as a photocatalytic medium, and using a photoreduction method to realize the precipitation of metal nanoparticles on a surface of the photocatalytic medium, thus creating photoelectrocatalytic clusters; illuminating a coupling area between a surface to be processed of a workpiece, the photoelectrocatalytic clusters and a flexible tool with a catalytic light source, and simultaneously applying a bias voltage to a conductive tray of the workpiece; and applying a normal load to a flexible tool head and setting a rotation speed to generate a hydrodynamic pressure to drive a polishing solution to flow, thus enabling controllable removal with atomic-level precision. The disclosure utilizes the metal particles in the photoelectrocatalytic clusters to capture photogenerated electrons, thereby prolonging the lifetime of photogenerated carriers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A photoelectric fluid field cluster catalytic method for atomic-scale deterministic processing, comprising the following steps:
S1, selecting nanoparticles with photocatalytic activity as a photocatalytic medium, and using a photoreduction method to realize a precipitation of metal nanoparticles on a surface of the photocatalytic medium, thus creating photoelectrocatalytic clusters;
S2, mixing the photoelectrocatalytic clusters with deionized water to prepare a polishing solution;
S3, illuminating a coupling area between a surface to be processed of a workpiece, the photoelectrocatalytic clusters and a flexible tool with a catalytic light source, and simultaneously applying a bias voltage to a conductive tray of the workpiece to control a potential of the workpiece and form a spatial electric field between the photoelectrocatalytic clusters and the workpiece; and
S4, applying a load to a flexible tool head and setting a rotation speed to generate a hydrodynamic pressure that maintains a gap between the tool head and the workpiece surface, and driving the polishing solution in the gap to flow through a flow field, thus enabling controllable removal with atomic-level precision under an interfacial synergistic photoelectrocatalytic effect.

2. The photoelectric fluid field cluster catalytic method for atomic-scale deterministic processing according to claim 1 , wherein in S1, using a photoreduction method to realize the precipitation of metal nanoparticles on a surface of the photocatalytic medium specifically comprises: uniformly dispersing the nanoparticles with photocatalytic activity in a metal salt solution, and irradiating the solution with ultraviolet light while performing magnetic stirring, allowing metal elements in the metal salt solution to capture photogenerated electrons on the surface of the photocatalytic medium, thus initiating a photoreduction reaction, resulting in the precipitation of the metal nanoparticles on the surface of the photocatalytic medium.

3. The photoelectric fluid field cluster catalytic method for atomic-scale deterministic processing according to claim 2 , wherein in S1, the photocatalytic medium is one of TiO 2 , ZnO, SnO 2 , ZrO 2 and CdS, with a particle size of 20-100 nm, and the metal salt solution is a solution of platinum chloride or silver nitrate.

4. The photoelectric fluid field cluster catalytic method for atomic-scale deterministic processing according to claim 1 , wherein in S2, the photoelectrocatalytic clusters are mixed with the deionize water at a ratio of 1-20 g/L to obtain the polishing solution.

5. The photoelectric fluid field cluster catalytic method for atomic-scale deterministic processing according to claim 1 , wherein in S3, the workpiece is fixed to the conductive tray using conductive carbon paste and connected to a potentiometer, allowing the workpiece to function as a working electrode; additionally, a counter electrode and a reference electrode with a constant potential are added to the polishing solution, and a potential of the working electrode is controlled based on the reference electrode, thereby establishing a stable spatial electric field between the workpiece and the photoelectrocatalytic clusters.

6. The photoelectric fluid field cluster catalytic method for atomic-scale deterministic processing according to claim 5 , wherein a potential difference between the counter electrode and the working electrode ranges from −50 V to +50 V.

7. The photoelectric fluid field cluster catalytic method for atomic-scale deterministic processing according to claim 1 , wherein in S3, the catalytic light source is mounted on an adapter device, allowing for control over an emission angle of the catalytic light source and adjustment of a position of a light spot irradiated on the surface to be processed, thus ensuring continuous irradiation in the coupling area between the flexible tool, the photoelectrocatalytic clusters, and the workpiece; and the single-photon energy of the catalytic light source exceeds a bandgap of the photocatalytic medium, and a wavelength of the catalytic light source ranges from 200 nm to 800 nm.

8. The photoelectric fluid field cluster catalytic method for atomic-scale deterministic processing according to claim 1 , wherein in S4, the normal load and the rotation speed are applied to the flexible tool head to create a balance between the hydrodynamic pressure and the load, resulting in a stable gap of 1-200 μm; the photoelectrocatalytic clusters are driven through the flow field into contact with the workpiece surface, resulting in an atomic-level controllable removal function within a confined area under the interfacial synergistic photoelectrocatalytic effect; additionally, a position of the tool is adjusted using x, y, and z displacement stages to adapt to a shape of the workpiece.

9. The photoelectric fluid field cluster catalytic method for atomic-scale deterministic processing according to claim 1 , wherein in S4, adjustments to an output power and wavelength of the catalytic light source, the rotation speed of the flexible tool, and a potential difference applied between the workpiece and a counter electrode allow for control over localized photoelectrocatalytic reactions in the coupling area between the tool, the photoelectrocatalytic clusters, and the workpiece, and an atomic-level removal function within a confined area of the workpiece is generated, enabling deterministic and controllable removal with single-atomic-layer precision on any surface shape through deconvolution.

Assignees

• Univ Zhejiang

Inventors

• Zhu Wule
• Wu Sidong
• Sun Qi
• Han Fang
• Gao Wei
• Xue Caoyang
• Zhao Xiang
• Jia Bingchun
• Wang Jingyuan
• Zhang Weijian
• Ju Bingfeng

Classifications

• H10P52/403

  of conductive or resistive materials · CPC title

• H10P52/402

  of semiconductor materials · CPC title

• H10P52/203

  of conductive or resistive materials · CPC title

• C09G1/06

  Other polishing compositions · CPC title

• C09G1/04

  Aqueous dispersions (C09G1/02 takes precedence) · CPC title