Determination of hydrogen absorption in Pd coated Al thin films

Al films, 80–85 nm in thickness and 10–30 μΩ cm in resistivity, are coated with Pd (8–40 nm). The bilayer is exposed to a hydrogen atmosphere of up to 4.0 kPa. The hydrogen concentration is calculated from the frequency change in a quartz crystal microbalance and the electrical resistance of the Pd film, the Al film and the bilayer is measured as function of hydrogen pressure. Concentration and resistance measurements indicate that the Pd coating enables the Al films to absorb hydrogen from the gas phase.     

X-ray absorption of gold nanoparticles with thin silica shell

Silica-coated gold (Au) nanoparticles were prepared and their morphological and X-ray absorption properties were investigated. These core-shell type nanoparticles are very stable in aqueous media and may be suitable for an X-ray contrast agent in biological systems. Transmission electron micrographs confirmed well-separated and relatively homogeneous morphology of the nanoparticles in highly concentrated colloids. Peak position for Au plasmon resonance was red-shifted with increasing shell thickness. X-ray absorption by the colloids of silica-coated Au nanoparticles was stronger than that by those of silica-coated Agl nanoparticles, a recently investigated X-ray contrast agent, at similar experimental conditions.     

Optical and photoluminescence studies of gold nanoparticles embedded ZnO thin films

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) embedded ZnO thin films were prepared by sandwiching a thin thermally evaporated Au film between two sputtered ZnO films. The films were characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), glancing angle X-ray diffraction (GXRD), optical absorption and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. GXRD data exhibited peaks which were attributed to the reflections from various ZnO and Au planes. Size dependence of the plasmon absorption was studied by forming nanoparticles with various sizes. Optical absorption spectra showed strong absorption due to localized surface plasmons at about 608, 638 and 676 nm for films having average AuNPs sizes of 27, 40 and 67 nm respectively. AuNPs embedded ZnO film showed a strong reduction in the intensity of photoluminescence, which was prominent in the case of pure ZnO film. The rise in temperature at a single nanoparticle site was calculated to be 22 K for a particle size of 80 nm.     

Surface plasma resonance spectra of Au nanoparticles formed from dewetted thin films

We investigated surface plasma resonance (SPR) properties of gold (Au) nanoparticles formed by step-by-step thermal annealing of Au films deposited onto substrates. We found that the averaged sizes of the Au particles formed in the annealing process depend on the initial thicknesses of the films. Using the geometric parameters extracted from the images of Au particles, the optical transmission spectra measured can be completely described in terms of SPR in the particles. The results suggest that annealing of Au films can be a simple and effective approach for producing Au nanoparticles with desired optical transmission properties, and the approach can be easily integrated into thin film fabrication processes.     

Preparation and optical properties of gold nanoparticles embedded in barium titanate thin films

High amount of gold nanoparticles was successfully incorporated into amorphous BaTiO₃ thin films by sol-gel process. Thiourea was applied to prevent Au ions from being reduced and aggregating as the effective stabilization agents. These films exhibited unique surface plasma resonance red-shifting and particular changes of surface plasma resonance intensity with the increase of heat-treating temperature, which could be attributed to the influence of BaTiO₃ ferroelectric domains. The films also exhibited superfast nonlinear optical response and larger third-order nonlinear susceptibility ⁽³⁾, which was attributed to hot electron contribution.     

The effect of arginine on gold nanoparticles in colloidal solutions and in thin films

Gold nanoparticles were prepared in aqueous colloidal solutions and their interaction with L-arginine solutions at different concentrations was investigated by UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The shift towards red of the absorption maximum of gold nanoparticles with increasing L-arginine concentration and in time, and the apparition of a new large band at higher wavelength evidence the formation of assemblies of gold nanoparticles, mediated by the amino acid. TEM images present the progress in the building process of supermolecular structures. Further, the AFM images show the self assemblies of gold nanoparticles capped with L-arginine well ordered in large domains on silanized glass. As a model for the process, we suggest that the positively charged guanidinium group of L-arginine is anchored on the negative citrate capped gold nanoparticles, while the other two functionalities of L-arginine are involved in the bonding between gold nanoparticles. The ability of arginine to specifically bind gold nanoparticles could lead to an increased ability of proteins, containing arginine, to specifically bind to nanogold. Then, they bind other target proteins or different ligands underlying numerous biological and medical applications that range from nanoscale biosensors, cell-cell communications to targeted delivery of drugs to cancer cells.     

Localized-surface-plasmon enhanced emission from porous silicon by gold nanoparticles

The porous silicon (PS) samples, decorated by Au nanoparticles (NPs) possessing localized-surface-plasmon (LSP) resonance, are prepared by the conventional anodization method. Photoluminescence (PL) is studied systematically, in particular, its dependence on the excitation power. It is found that undecorated PS samples exhibit a saturation behavior in PL intensity with increasing the pumping laser power, while the luminescence of Au-decorated PS hybrid samples have a purely linear dependence on the excitation power. In the linear response region of PS samples, addition of metal NPs layer moderately suppresses the emission while, in the saturation region, the net emission is enhanced by approximately up to 4-fold. Several possible mechanisms are discussed. We believe that the observed PL enhancement in saturation region is dominantly due to the resonant coupling between the LSP of Au NPs and the electronic excitation of PS, which inhibits the nonradiative Auger recombination process at high excitation power. These results indicate that the plasmon effect could be useful for designing even more efficient optoelectronic devices such as super bright light emitting devices and solar cells with high efficiencies. Despite many challenges, Au NPs can potentially be applied to introduce LSP resonance for the future silicon-based optoelectronics or photonics.     

Titanium diffusion in gold thin films

In the present study, diffusion phenomena in titanium/gold (Ti/Au) thin films occurring at temperatures ranging between 200 and 400 °C are investigated.The motivation is twofold: the first objective is to characterize Ti diffusion into Au layer as an effect of different heat-treatments. The second goal is to prove that the implementation of a thin titanium nitride (TiN) layer between Ti and Au can remarkably reduce Ti diffusion.It is observed that Ti atoms can fully diffuse through polycrystalline Au thin films (260 nm thick) already at temperatures as a low as 250 °C. Starting from secondary ion mass spectroscopy data, the overall diffusion activation energy ΔE = 0.66 eV and the corresponding pre-exponential factor D₀ = 5 × 10^− 11 cm²/s are determined. As for the grain boundary diffusivity, both the activation energy range 0.54 < ΔE_gb < 0.66 eV and the pre-exponential factor s₀D_gb0 = 1.14 × 10^− 8 cm²/s are obtained. Finally, it is observed that the insertion of a thin TiN layer (40 nm) between gold and titanium acts as an effective diffusion barrier up to 400 °C.     

Formation of gold nanoparticles in silicon suboxide films prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition

Nanostructured materials fabricated by dispersing metal particles on the dielectric surface have potential application in the field of nanotechnology. Interfacial metal particles/dielectric matrix interaction is important in manipulating the structural and optical properties of metal/dielectric films. In this work, a thin layer of gold (Au) was sputtered onto the surface of silicon oxide, SiO_x (0.38 < x < 0.68) films which was deposited at different N₂O/SiH₄ flow rate ratios of 5 to 40 using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique prior to the annealing process at 800 °C. FTIR spectra demonstrate the intensity and full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of Si-O-Si stretching peaks are significantly dependent on the N₂O/SiH₄ flow-rate ratio, η. The films deposited at low and high N₂O/SiH₄ flow rate ratios are dominated by the oxygen and silicon contents respectively. The size and concentration of Au particles distributed on the surface of SiO_x films are dependent on the N₂O/SiH₄ flow-rate ratio. High concentrations of Au nanoparticles are distributed evenly on the surface of the film deposited at N₂O/SiH₄ flow-rate ratio of 30. Crystallinity and crystallite sizes of Au are enhanced after the thermal annealing process. Appearance of surface plasma resonance (SPR) absorption peaks at 524 nm for all samples are observed as a result of the formation of Au particles. The annealing process has improved SPR peaks for all the as-deposited films. The energy gap of the as-deposited Au/SiO_x films are in the range of 3.58 to 4.38 eV. This energy gap increases after the thermal annealing process except for the film deposited at η = 5.     

Electro-reflectance and electro-transmittance in thin films of gold

The electro-reflectance and electro-transmittance of gold films have been measured using an electrolytic cell technique and the spectral variation of the effect has been established as a function of the film thickness. The electrolytic electric field causes a shift of the electro-reflectance peak to lower photon energies as the film becomes less than 20 nm thick. A relationship has been established between the normal reflectance and transmittance of the system and the changes in these with electric field. These effects have been predicted quantitatively with a theoretical model which takes into account only the modulation of the first surface of the charge carrier enhanced layer and uses the free electron component contribution to the optical constants together with interference within a thin absorbing film. This model has been used to predict the electro-reflectance effects previously observed with silver.

With very thin films (less than 10 nm) discrepancies arise due to the fact that the optical properties of the thin film material are no longer those of the bulk. In this case it has been shown that on the same model it is possible to use the derivative of the reflectance of the thin film with respect to frequency to obtain a prediction of the electro-reflectance exhibited.     

Picosecond thermal pulses in thin gold films

In this paper it has been shown that, with the advent of lasers with a very short pulse duration, the effect of thermal wave propagation becomes important. To consider this effect, hyperbolic heat conduction in thin gold films was studied. It was shown that for heat fluxes of the order 10⁸ W·cm^–2, a thermal wave is generated in thin gold films. The consideration of the hyperbolicity of heat transfer enables one to describe the temperature profile with one value of fluence.     

Wettability control by laser texturing process generating localized gold nanoparticles on polymeric thin films

In this work a new approach is introduced for surface properties control by laser texturing process. By UV laser irradiation, we are able to control the surface wettability of a chitosan polymeric film in which is introduced a chloroauric acid salt by immersion. Specifically the UV irradiation is responsible for the creation of gold nanoparticles at the irradiated surface of the polymeric film. This photolytic process allows us to localize and design accurately surface patterns and moreover to tune metallic particle size in the range of nanoscale. After the characterization of our gold textured surfaces by atomic force and scanning electron microscopies, we demonstrate the link between wettability surface properties and gold nanoparticles size. The experimental results indicate the influence of the laser intensity, the irradiation time and the polymer film thickness (by increasing the gold concentration) on the gold nanoparticle density and size.     

Oxygen-ion-assisted deposition of thin gold films

Thin gold films have been deposited on glass and silicon substrates using ion-assisted deposition techniques. The adhesion of the films to the substrates is assessed by a scratch test. Deposition assisted by 100 eV-1 keV oxygen ions yields highly adhesive films that can only be removed by damaging the substrate. Argon and hydrogen ions produce films with relatively poor adhesion. The results show that the reflectance of oxygen-assisted films is reduced by trapping of the oxygen in the gold but no bulk chemical or structural changes are detected. It is proposed that a thin stable layer of gold oxide is formed during film growth and diffuses into the substrate, providing a strong bond for subsequent film deposition. Highly adhesive films with bulk optical properties are deposited on glass and silicon using oxygen-ion assistance only to the point of continuous film formation.     

Surface enhanced Raman scattering of neurotransmitter release in neuronal cells using antibody conjugated gold nanoparticles

This study demonstrated the potential feasibility of using antibody-conjugated gold nanoparticles as highly sensitive and homogeneous sensing probes for biological monitoring of neurotransmitters in neuronal cells. Bands at 1152 and 1322 cm(-1) were also similar to SERS of metal catecholates, and could be assigned to catechol ring vibration and carbon-oxygen stretches.     

Quantitative enhanced Raman scattering of labeled DNA from gold and silver nanoparticles

Surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) from silver nanoparticles using 514.5-nm excitation has been shown to offer huge potential for applications in highly sensitive multiplexed DNA assays. If the technique is to be applied to real biological samples and integrated with other methods, then the use of gold nanoparticles and longer wavelengths of excitation are desirable. The data presented here demonstrate that dye-labeled oligonucleotide sequences can be directly detected by SERRS using gold nanoparticles in a quantitative manner for the first time. The performance of gold and silver nanoparticles as SERRS substrates was assessed using 514.5-, 632.8-, and 785-nm excitation and a range of 13 commercially available dye-labeled oligonucleotides. The quantitative response allowed the limit of detection to be determined for each case and demonstrates that the technique is highly effective, sensitive, and versatile. The possibility of excitation at multiple wavelengths further enhances the multiplexing potential of the technique. The importance of effectively combining the optical properties of the nanoparticle and the dye label is demonstrated. For example, at 632.8-nm excitation, the dye BODIPY TR-X and gold nanoparticles make a strong SERRS combination with very little background fluorescence. This study allows the choice of nanoparticle and dye label for particular experimental setups, and significantly expands the applicability of enhanced Raman scattering for use in many disciplines.     

Forming dense arrays of gold nanoparticles in thin films of yttria stabilized zirconia by magnetron sputtering

Layers of Au nanoparticles (NPs) were formed in films of yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) on fusedquartz substrates by layer-by-layer magnetron deposition with subsequent annealing. The obtained structures were studied by applying high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to transverse sections and using optical absorption spectroscopy. TEM studies revealed the formation of Au NPs with a diameter of 2?3 nm concentrated in a thin layer within the YSZ film. The optical absorption spectra of the studied samples exhibited peaks of resonance plasmon absorption in Au NPs with a maximum wavelength of ~650 nm. The dependences of geometric and structural parameters of Au NP arrays (size, density, thickness of the Au NP layer, etc.) on the formation conditions were determined, and the regimes of fabrication of dense Au NP arrays that allow for collective plasmon excitations were identified.     

Electromigration in thin gold films on molybdenum surfaces

Electric current was passed through thin gold films deposited onto molybdenum surfaces. The edge of the gold film closer to the cathode was seen to move towards the anode, leaving a free molybdenum surface. Large hillocks and crystallites were seen to accumulate on the gold edge pointing toward the anode. The velocity of the film edge was assumed to represent the average drift velocity for electromigration.The velocity of the gold edge was found to be constant at any given temperature and current density. At any constant temperature, the velocity was proportional to the current density. Finally, the velocity depended exponentially on the temperature.Current densities of 10⁵–10⁶ Acm^-2 were used at temperatures of 260°–500°C. The “activation energy” for the drift velocity was found to be 0.6 eV in most samples, while some samples showed an energy of about 0.9eV. The drift velocities per unit current density ranged between 10^-13 and 10^-15 cm³ A^-1 s^-1 and the gold motion was always in the direction of electron flow.