Pressure-controlled vacuum chamber for photothermal processing of thin films via photonic curing

Controlled nucleation and growth of thin films and nanostructured surfaces is one of the fundamental challenges and intriguing aspects of nanomaterials for researchers and manufacturers. The unique properties exploited in the application of nanomaterials rely on controlling the mechanism underlying their synthesis, i.e., the nucleation and growth. Several approaches have been adopted for controlled synthesis of nanomaterials. Herein, we report on the design and building of a pressure controlled vacuum chamber to process thin films under controlled pressure/temperature using xenon flashlamp photonic curing. We built a UV-vis pressure-controlled chamber (PCC) and demonstrated the processing of thin films at pressures varying from 1 to 3.5 atm in different gas environments ranging from inert to reactive gases. Our results showed that the processing of thin films under controlled pressure changes the nano-morphology of thin film growth. The successful implementation of the PCC for photothermal processing of thin films makes it a promising route to control the nucleation and growth of nanomaterials under various conditions for large scale-controlled synthesis of nanomaterials.