Plasma electrochemical growth of ion-conducting AgBr and AgCl

The electrochemically controlled anodic growth of binary cation-conducting layers in reactive low temperature plasmas is studied (model systems: AgCl and AgBr). A formal stability criterion comparing the electric field within the film and the plasma is derived. It predicts either morphologically stable or unstable growth depending on the reaction temperature. The experiments prove this stability criterion qualitatively. The experimental setup and results of our plasma electrochemical growth experiments are presented. The idea to utilize low temperature plasmas as ‘fluid mixed conductors’ is discussed.