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The ion-irradiation induced synthesis of embedded Au nanoparticles (NPs) into glass from islands of Au on a glass substrate is studied in the context of recoiling atoms, sputtering and viscous flow. Cross sectional transmission electron microscopy studies revealed the formation of Au NPs embedded in the glass substrates by the 50 keV Si− ion irradiation of irregularly shaped Au nanostructures on the glass surfaces at a fluence of 3 × 1016 ions/cm2. The depth profiles of Au in the samples were obtained from high-resolution Rutherford backscattering spectrometry studies. The results from TRIDYN simulation reveal the role of various ion-induced processes during the synthesis of the embedded Au NPs, viz. sputtering and recoiling atoms. Simulation and experimental results suggest that the viscous flow is one of the major factors that are responsible for the embedding of Au nanoparticles into the glass substrate.

Ag:TiO2 nanocomposite films have been synthesized by sol-gel method followed by electron beam physical vapour deposition. Targets for this deposition were prepared by a hydraulic press using a powder containing Ag and TiO2 prepared by sol-gel technique. Microstructure, surface, and plasmonic properties of nanocomposite films were studied using glancing angle X-ray diffractometer, atomic force microscopy, field emission secondary electron microscopy, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Microstructural study reveals that Ag nanoparticles are embedded in TiO2 matrix consisting of mixed phases of anatase and rutile. Size estimation using Scherrer formula reveals that average crystallite size of Ag nanoparticles is 23 nm. Surface morphological studies indicate that deposited films are uniform and intact to the substrate and have very low value of root mean square roughness. Optical studies exhibit a surface plasmon resonance induced absorption band in visible region, which is the characteristic feature of Ag nanoparticles. The intensity of this absorption band is found to increase with the increase in deposition time. Multiple peaks observed in absorption band were explained using the concepts of extended Mie scattering. Preliminary experiments also suggested that these nanocomposite films exhibit promising photocatalytic properties, which can be used for water treatment.

Thermally deposited 200 nm polycrystalline films of lithium fluoride (LiF) grown on glass substrates were irradiated with 150 MeV Ag ions at various fluences between 1 × 1011 and 2 × 1013 ions cm-2. The irradiation induced structural and optical modifications were studied using glancing angle x-ray diffraction (GAXRD), optical absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The GAXRD results show that the films are polycrystalline and the average grain size (estimated from the widths of the GAXRD peak using the Scherrer formula) decreases systematically from 46.3 nm for the pristine sample to 18.3 nm for the sample irradiated at a fluence of 3 × 1012 ions cm-2. Thereafter, it remains constant. This reduction is attributed to strain induced fragmentation of grains. The optical absorption studies show dominant absorption bands of F3 (385 nm) and F2 (445 nm) colour centres. It is observed that the concentration of the colour centres increases with ion fluence and gets saturated at higher fluences. This can be correlated with GAXRD results in the sense that as the density of grain boundaries increases the concentration of colour centres also increases. The variation with fluence in PL intensities of the F2 and [inline image] colour centres is studied. The intensity of both bands (F2 and [inline image]) increases up to a fluence of 1 × 1012 ions cm-2, followed by an exponential decrease, which is due to the increase in the non-radiative transition rate in the presence of defect-rich material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnO thin films were deposited using atom beam sputtering and their modifications have been shown by two processes: (a) thermal annealing of ZnO thin films in oxygen and (b) athermal annealing by irradiation of these films by swift heavy ions (SHIs) in a high vacuum chamber. The as-deposited films showed the nanocrystalline nature with a preferred orientation along the c-axis of the hexagonal structure as revealed by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectra. The influence of the thermal annealing and athermal annealing on the structural and surface modifications of these thin films were investigated. XRD and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the improvement in the crystallinity of ZnO thin film by both thermal annealing and SHI irradiation. The Zn-O bonding was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the interpretation of IR spectra corroborated the XRD and Raman results. Surface morphology was investigated by atomic force microscopy. The AFM study of the films implied no significant change in the roughness of the films in both types of annealing conditions. It was concluded that the modification of nanocrystalline ZnO thin film could be possible by both thermal and athermal annealing. Results indicate that transient annealing by SHI irradiation induces the highly textured c-axis oriented ZnO thin film for device applications, comparable to those of high temperature annealing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]