ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Professor Stan Veprek

After his initial research work in plasma diagnostics and spectroscopy, Stan Veprek began his work on the deposition of thin films by means of plasma CVD 40 years ago at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Science where he started his scientific career after an education as a high school teacher (in Ceske Budejovice) followed by the study of physics at the Charles University in Prague (graduated 1962). His first major result was the deposition of nanocrystalline silicon, nc-Si, by means of chemical transport in plasma (published in 1968; nowadays, nc-Si is an important material for large-scale microelectronics, flat panel displays and thin films solar cells). He became involved in the research of the plasma-wall interactions in nuclear fusion devices. In 1976 he proposed the protective coating of the inner wall with boron carbide, and in the following years developed "boronization" by means of plasma CVD, which found successful application in several large fusion devices around the world.

His continuing interest in nc-Si resulted in, among others, classical papers on Raman scattering. Together with the Swiss national museum he developed a new plasma-chemical method for the restoration and conservation of archeological metallic artifacts.

Stan has published 368 papers and several book-chapters. The most recent book co-authored with Prof. C. Koch, I. Ovidko and S. Seal “Structural Nanocrystalline Materials” (Cambridge University Press 2007). He is co-editor of Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing, and has co-organized various conferences and sessions at ISPC, MRS, ICMCTF and others, and served on several IUPAC and Int. Union of Vacuum Societies committees.

He received the Silver Medal of the Societe d’Encouragement Pour la Recherche et l’Invention, Paris (1979), Silver Medal of the Masaryk University Brno (1991), Honorary Doctorate (Dr. h.c.) from the Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic (1999), the Blaise Pascal Medal of the European Academy of Sciences (2004) and the AVS John Thornton Memorial Award of the American Vacuum Society (2005). In 2003 he was appointed foreign member of the Commission I of Low- Temperature Plasma Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Branch Lublin.

1- BRIEF OVERVIEW AND CLASSIFICATION OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF  NANO-STRUCTURED MATERIALS:
•Dispersion vs. crystallite size à the role of surface & interfacial energy in nano- materials, and localization phenomena;
•Optoelectronic properties of nanosized materials;
•Structural nanocomposites with high specific strength;
•Functional, hard, self-lubricant nanocomposites for machine parts;
•Superhard nanocomposites and  heterostructures as protective coating for machining tools;

2- BRIEF REPETITION OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS OF MATERIALS:
▪Bonds and energy bands;
▪Electrical and optical properties of materials;
Crystal Energy, Elastic Moduli; the Ideal
▪Strength of materials vs. the practically achievable one;
▪Point defects, Dislocations, Cracks, Grain
Boundaries;
▪ Mechanical properties of materials;
▪Brief remark on theoretical modelling.

3- PROPERTIES OF NANO-SIZED AND NANO-STRUCTURED MATERIALS WHEN APPROACHING THE MOLECULAR SIZE – THE ROLE OF CRYSTALLITE SIZE AND SEPARATION:
▪Thermodynamics properties vs. crystallite size;
▪Localization phenomena (electrons & phonons), crystallite size and separation;
▪Learning from the nature: super-hydrophobic, self-cleaning surfaces; "lotus effect" upside down; super-adhesive surfaces; design of high-specific strength; design of colours;

4- STRUCTURAL BULK NANOCOMPOSITES:
▪Present status and future trends

5- PREPARATION:
• Fundamentals of Chemical and Physical Vapour Deposition of Thin Coatings   (Thermodynamics & Kinetics, Thermal CVD vs. plasma induced CVD; effect of substrate bias on the properties of coatings; applied bias and self-bias in D.C. and R.F. glow discharges, effect of frequency; problems of scaling of deposition processes);
•Synthesis of nanocrystals, nanowires and nanotubes;
•Miscellaneous techniques;

6- CHARACTERIZATION:
•Determination of crystallite size and phases composition by XRD and by TEM;
•Determination of internal stress in thin films;
•X-ray photoelectron and Auger electron spectroscopy (XPS & AES);
•Ions Scattering Spectroscopy (ISS), Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) and Elastic Recoil Detection (ERB); 
•Scanning Tunnelling and Atomic Force Microscopy (STM & AFM);
•Miscellaneous (e.g. contact angle measurement, etc.)

7- FUNCTIONAL NANOCOMPOSITE COATINGS FOR MACHINE PARTS,
•The role of the ratio of elastic modulus to hardness for wear;
•Self-lubricant hard nanocomposites for harsh and variable environment (humid-dry, low-high temperature etc.);

8- HARD AND SUPERHARD NANOCOMPOSITES with high thermal stability and oxidation resistance for machining, such as drilling, milling, turning, forming, …
8.1. Different approaches to superhard coatings, their advantages and drawbacks: