Numerical study of the controlled electrodeposition of charged nanoparticles in an electric field

Abstract A numerical investigation of the effect of sensitive parameters on the controlled electrodeposition of charged nanoparticles driven by an electric field is conducted. By applying a potential difference between an arrangement of electrodes, an electric field is generated, in which charged nanoparticles are transported through a mask and finally deposited on a substrate, a technique first described and applied by Choi et al. Using this technique, sharply delimited structures of deposited particles can be printed. A series of simulations are carried out taking into account the variation of different parameters such as the geometry of the electrode arrangement as well as the size and charge of the particles. The numerical results are verified with experimental and numerical data from Choi et al. It is determined how the considered parameters affect the deposition of the nanoparticles with respect to the sharpness of the obtained deposits. Here, the investigated spherical particles showed an inertia-free behavior within the considered diameters from 5 to 30 nm. The correlation of the thermal fluctuations with the electric force is quantitatively analyzed, as well as its impact on the width of the pattern of deposited nanoparticles.