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Laser modification of silver and gold nanoparticles in dielectric thin films

M. SENDOVA-VASSILEVA1,* , M. SENDOVA2, R. RUTHER2, J. C. PIVIN3

Affiliation

  1. CL SENES, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tzarigradsko Chaussee Blvd., 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria
  2. New College of Florida, Division of Natural Sciences, 5800 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota, FL 34243-2109, USA
  3. CSNSM, CNRS, Bâtiment 108, 91405 Orsay Campus, France

Abstract

Thin films of SiO2 containing silver or gold nanoparticles were prepared by magnetron co-sputtering followed by thermal annealing. The concentration of metal in the films was determined by Rutherford backscattering. Laser treatment of the films was performed using the second or fourth harmonic of a Nd: YAG laser with a pulse length of 5 ns and frequency of 10 Hz. Laser fluences were below 125 mJ/cm2. The changes induced in the films by the laser radiation were monitored by measuring the optical absorption. A marked difference in the effect of laser radiation on the nanoparticles in the case of Ag and Au was found. For silver, a laser induced fragmentation of the nanoparticles was observed and in the range of laser energies studied the final mean particle size scaled linearly with laser fluence without a major reduction of the amount of precipitated metal. In the case of gold, such a dependence on laser fluence could not be shown and in some cases the intensity of the surface plasmon resonance was greatly reduced. The mechanism of interaction of the laser light with the metal nanoparticles is discussed..

Keywords

Metal nanoparticle, Laser fragmentation, Surface plasmon resonance, Nanocomposite.

Submitted at: Nov. 1, 2006
Accepted at: Jan. 15, 2007

Citation

M. SENDOVA-VASSILEVA, M. SENDOVA, R. RUTHER, J. C. PIVIN, Laser modification of silver and gold nanoparticles in dielectric thin films, Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials Vol. 9, Iss. 1, pp. 186-189 (2007)