The fabrication of patterned gold nanoparticle arrays via selective ion irradiation and plasma treatment.

A simple and facile method for the patterning of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) was described via selective ion irradiation and oxygen plasma etching. Thin Pluronic films containing HAuCI4 as the precursor of GNPs were selectively irradiated through a pattern mask with 200 keV proton ions to generate GNP-embedded Pluronic patterns. The Pluronic was then removed by an oxygen plasma etching process for the pattern formation of GNPs. Based on the results of the UV-Vis, FE-SEM, and EDX analyses, 50 μm negative-tone line patterns of the GNP-embedded Pluronic were successfully generated at a fluence of less than 1 x 10(16) ions/cm2. The changes in the morphology and elemental composition of the formed GNP-embedded Pluronic patterns with different time periods of oxygen plasma etching were investigated using an FE-SEM with an EDX. The experimental results demonstrated that the patterns of GNPs were effectively generated by the oxygen plasma etching of the formed GNP-embedded Pluronic patterns for 15 min. Furthermore, the XRD results revealed that GNPs in the patterns formed by ion irradiation were further grown during the subsequent oxygen plasma etching.