Nylon-sputtered plasma polymer particles produced by a semi-hollow cathode gas aggregation source

•Plasma polymer nanoparticles were deposited by nylon sputtering.•The particle source offers large sputter area against the one with planar magnetron.•The particle source is capable to reach deposition rates of at least 1 μm/s.

A new type of a gas aggregation particle source based on a semi-hollow magnetron was developed for production of plasma polymer particles from sputtered nylon. The particles were prepared in a wide range of sizes (from 40 to 270 nm) and at very high deposition rates (up to 1 μm/s) in pure argon working gas. The most important parameter controlling the mean size of the particles was their residence time in the aggregation chamber, even though the input power was also observed to influence the particle size.