Bazaka, K.Baranov, O.Cvelbar, U.Podgornik, B.Wang, Y.Huang, S.Xu, L.Lim, J. W.M.Levchenko, I.Xu, S.2025-05-302025-05-302040-3364PubMed:30226508http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054270926&partnerID=8YFLogxKhttps://hdl.handle.net/1885/733755332Although extremely chemically reactive, oxygen plasmas feature certain properties that make them attractive not only for material removal via etching and sputtering, but also for driving and sustaining nucleation and growth of various nanostructures in plasma bulk and on plasma-exposed surfaces. In this minireview, a number of representative examples is used to demonstrate key mechanisms and unique capabilities of oxygen plasmas and how these can be used in present-day nano-fabrication. In addition to modification and functionalisation processes typical for oxygen plasmas, their ability to catalyse the growth of complex nanoarchitectures is emphasized. Two types of technologies based on oxygen plasmas, namely surface treatment without a change in the size and shape of surface features, as well as direct growth of oxide structures, are used to better illustrate the capabilities of oxygen plasmas as a powerful process environment. Future applications and possible challenges for the use of oxygen plasmas in nanofabrication are discussed.This work was supported in part by the OSTIn-SRP/EDB through National Research Foundation and in part by MoE AcRF (Rp6/16 Xs), Singapore; UC and OB would like to acknowledge financing of Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) under grant L2-7667 and European Union's Horizon 2020 agreement No. 766894; BP acknowledges ARRS grant no. L2-7599; I. L. acknowledges the support from the School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology. This work was supported in part by the OSTIn-SRP/EDB through National Research Foundation and in part by MoE AcRF (Rp6/16 Xs), Singapore; UC and OB would like to acknowledge financing of Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) under grant L2-7667 and European Union’s Horizon 2020 agreement No. 766894; BP acknowledges ARRS grant no. L2-7599; I. L. acknowledges the support from the School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology.18enPublisher Copyright: © 2018 The Royal Society of Chemistry.2018-10-0710.1039/c8nr06502k85054270926