No abstract

Rough surface and poor stability of ultrathin Ag films limit their applications in nanophotonic and optoelectronic devices. Here, we report an approach for fabricating ultrasmooth and thermally stable Ag-based thin films on SiO2/Si substrates by Al-doping. The effect of Al-doping on the surface morphology and stability of ultrathin Ag films at room temperature and elevated temperature was investigated. The 15 nm Al-doped Ag films with an Al atomic concentration of 4% have a root-mean-square roughness as low as 0.4 nm. The smooth surface morphology is maintained even after 300 °C annealing in N2. Al-doping enhances the nuclei density of films. Moreover, a capping layer spontaneously formed over the Al-doped Ag films restrains the surface diffusion and mass transportation of Ag atoms. Therefore, Al-doping induces ultrathin Ag films with highly stable and ultrasmooth surface morphology.

A new low-temperature procedure has been used for preparing micro-mesoporous carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalysts, with anatase pore wall and substitutional carbon occupying oxygen sites, which exhibit outstanding photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation.