Method and apparatus for depositing nanostructured thin layers with controlled morphology and nanostructure

Method for the production of a nanostructured film having a controlled morphology, comprising the following operations:

• providing at least one first chamber and a second chamber divided by a wall but in fluid communication with each other through one or more openings;
• providing in the first chamber a planar antenna for the creation of a localized plasma, said planar antenna being placed near or against the wall dividing said first and second chambers, such that the surface of the antenna farther from said wall is at a distance “d” of no more than 5 cm from said wall, and having one or more holes in positions corresponding to said one or more openings in said wall;
• creating a planar non-thermal plasma in a zone facing said surface of the antenna farther from the wall dividing said first and second chamber;
• injecting reagents in gas or vapor phase into said first chamber at a point at a distance “h” of no more than 5 cm from said surface of the antenna farther from said wall, so as to cause the reagents to cross the area of the non-thermal plasma, thus defining a reaction zone where the flow of reagents intersects said plasma, in which molecular species of the desired material are produced;
• through said one or more openings, extracting said molecular species from the reaction zone and directing them towards a deposition zone, defined within said second chamber, in which a substrate for the nanostructured film is disposed;
• maintaining the reaction zone at a pressure PR comprised between 10 and 100,000 Pa, the deposition zone at a pressure PD comprised between 0.01 and 10,000 Pa, and the ratio PR/PD at a value equal to or greater than 3, thus determining a supersonic gas jet containing said molecular species which is directed from the reaction zone to the deposition zone;
• arranging said substrate along the axis of the supersonic jet at a distance comprised between 0.5 and 10 cm from said one or more openings.