Morphology and optoelectronics at Metal-Polymer-Interfaces during Sputter Deposition

The reproducible low-cost fabrication of functional polymer-metal-nanocomposites with tailored optoelectronic properties remains a major issue in applied nanotechnology. In order to obtain full control over the nanostructural evolution at the metal-polymer interface and its impact on optoelectronic properties, we employed the combination of in-situ time-resolved GISAXS [1] with in-situ surface differential reflectivity spectrometry during sputter deposition of gold on thin polystyrene films. We correlate the evolution of the metallic layer morphology with changes in the key scattering. This enabled us to identify the different growth regimes with their specific thresholds and permits a better understanding of the growth kinetics of gold clusters on polymer substrates. Our study opens up the opportunity to improve nanofabrication of tailored metal-polymer nanostructures for organic electronics like photovoltaic applications and plasmonic-based technologies.