Low Temperature Formation of Silver and Silver-Copper Alloy Nano-Particles Using Plasma Enhanced Hydrogenation and Their Optical Properties

Zeinab Kiani, Yaser Abdi, Ezatollah Arzi

Nanophysics Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

DOI: 10.4236/wjnse.2012.23018                

Abstract

In this paper, a novel method of producing nanoparticles at low temperatures using hydrogen bombardment of thin films, deposited on glass substrates, is introduced. Silver nanoparticles were obtained by this method in our Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition system. Optical and morphological characteristics of these nanoparticles were extensively studied for various conditions of plasma treatment, such as plasma power density, temperature, duration of hydrogen bombardment, thickness of the initial thin metallic film etc. In addition, Ag-Cu alloy nanoparticles on glass substrates were also achieved. The process of nanoparticle formation in this method shows that several kinds of metals and semiconductors nanoparticles can be obtained using this approach. Scanning Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy were used to analyze the nanostructures.

Keywords

Nanoparticles; Plasma; Hydrogen; PECVD; Silver; Alloy

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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