Growth of glass-embedded Cu nanoparticles: A low-frequency Raman scattering study

International audience; Several populations of Cu spherical nanoparticles grown in a silicate glass at different temperatures with respect to the glass transition temperature were studied using high-resolution, low-frequency Raman scattering and optical absorption. The analysis of the spectra shows that the annealing of the doped glass at temperatures close to T-g leads to the formation of metallic copper nanoparticles with high crystallinity, whereas lower-temperature and higher-temperature annealings result in the formation of poorer nanoparticle assemblies in terms of size distribution and/or nanocrystallinity. It is also shown that in the case where the optical data do not unambiguously reveal the presence of metallic Cu nanoparticles, the Raman probe enables us to probe their presence as a result of the resonance process.