The growth and solid-state dewetting behavior of Au thin films (0.7 to 8.4 nm) deposited on the formvar film (substrate) by sputtering technique have been studied using transmission electron microscopy. The size and number density of the Au nanoparticles (NPs) change with an increase in the film thickness (0.7 to 2.8 nm). Nearly spherical Au NPs are obtained for <3 nm thickness films whereas percolated nanostructures are observed for ≥3 nm thickness films as a consequence of the interfacial interaction of Au and formvar film. The covered area fraction (CAF) increases from ∼13 to 75 % with the change in film thickness from 0.7 to 8.4 nm. In-situ annealing of ≤3 nm film produces comparatively bigger size and better sphericity Au NPs along with their narrow distributions, whereas just percolated film produces broad distribution in size having spherical as well as elongated Au NPs. The films with thickness ≤3 nm show excellent thermal stability. The films having thickness >6 nm show capability to be used as an irreversible temperature sensor with a sensitivity of ∼0.1 CAF/°C. It is observed that annealing affects the crystallinity of the Au grains in the films. The electron diffraction measurement also shows annealing induced morphological evolution in the percolated Au thin films (≥3 nm) during solid-state dewetting and recrystallization of the grains.

X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of Nd-doped phosphate glasses have been studied before and after gamma irradiation. The intensity and the location of the white line peak of the L-edge XANES of Nd are found to be dependent on the ratio O/Nd in the glass matrix. Gamma irradiation changes the elemental concentration of atoms in the glass matrix, which affects the peak intensity of the white line due to changes in the covalence of the chemical bonds with Nd atoms in the glass (structural changes). Sharpening of the Nd 3d peak profile in XPS spectra indicates a deficiency of oxygen in the glasses after gamma irradiation, which is supported by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy measurements. The ratio of non-bridging oxygen to total oxygen in the glass after gamma radiation has been found to be correlated to the concentration of defects in the glass samples, which are responsible for its radiation resistance as well as for its coloration.

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CoCr2O4 nanoceramics are prepared by sol–gel auto combustion method. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction analysis affirms the single-phase pristine cubic structure with space group [Formula: see text]. Debye–Scherrer method estimates the crystallite size of main intense peak to be [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]nm. Prominent bands obtained in infrared spectra at 448 and 599[Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text] are due to metal–oxygen stretching bond present at tetrahedral and octahedral sites. Dielectric parameters decrease as frequency increases from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]Hz that can be interpreted by Maxwell–Wagner-type interfacial polarization. Complex impedance spectra (Nyquist plot) reveal arc like behavior, which is mainly due to intergrain (grain boundary) resistance that also exhibits conducting nature of the nanoceramics. Weak ferroelectricity is mainly associated with the partial reversal of the polarization. Leakage current behavior follows the Ohmic and Child square law. Electron conduction process was interpreted by space-charge limited current (SCLC) mechanism. Leakage current behavior observed in cobalt chromite nanoceramics is mainly attributed to the oxygen vacancies.

The silver nanoparticle surface relief gratings of ∼10 μm period are fabricated using electron beam lithography on the silver halide film substrate. Morphological characterization of the gratings shows that the period, the shape, and the relief depth in the gratings are mainly dependent on the number of lines per frame, the spot size, and the accelerating voltage of electron beam raster in the SEM. Optical absorption of the silver nanoparticle gratings provides a broad localized surface plasmon resonance peak in the visible region, whereas the intensity of the peaks depends on the number density of silver nanoparticles in the gratings. The maximum efficiency of ∼7.2% for first order diffraction is observed for the grating fabricated at 15 keV. The efficiency is peaking at 560 nm with ∼380 nm bandwidth. The measured profiles of the diffraction efficiency for the gratings are found in close agreement with the Raman-Nath diffraction theory. This technique provides a simple and efficient method for the fabrication of plasmonic nanoparticle grating structures with high diffraction efficiency having broad wavelength tuning.

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The plasmonic responses of silver nanoparticle grating structures of different periods made on silver halide based electron microscope film are investigated. Raster scan of the conventional scanning electron microscope (SEM) is used to carry out electron beam lithography for fabricating the plasmonic nanoparticle grating (PNG) structures. Morphological characterization of the PNG structures, carried out by the SEM and the atomic force microscope, indicates that the depth of the groove decreases with a decrease in the grating period. Elemental characterization performed by the energy dispersive spectroscopy and the x-ray diffraction shows the presence of nanoparticles of silver in the PNG grating. The optical characterization of the gratings shows that the localized surface plasmon resonance peak shifts from 366 to 378 nm and broadens with a decrease in grating period from 10 to 2.5 μm. The surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy of the Rhodamine-6G dye coated PNG structure shows the maximum enhancement by two orders of magnitude in comparison to the randomly distributed silver nanoparticles having similar size and shape as the PNG structure.

New goals for providing better solutions with the help of nanotechnology have emerged from the electronics industry. Nano-electronics has focused on the structural, optical, magnetic, and photoluminescence properties of nanomaterials for developing optoelectronic devices. These properties play a vital role at the nanoscale level in comparison to that of bulk compounds. The use of semiconductor materials has always been in demand. Here, we are focusing on the unique and distinct structural and optical properties of rare earth-doped ZnO nanostructures. Nanoparticles of ZnO doped with Terbium ion was prepared by sol gel method. Systematic structural studies on Tb 3+ ion doped ZnO nanocrystals were carried out using X-ray diffraction, High resolution transmission electron microscopy, Xray photoelectron spectroscopy and EPR study. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy and EPR studies spectroscopy measurements were also performed on these nanoparticles to observe the surface property alteration done by rare earth incorporation. It was observed that by incorporation of Tb 3+ ions, the broad band luminescence has enhanced which could be exploited for the fabrication of display devices of required luminescence. The EPR study shows that the type of surface defects changes for different concentration of Tb doped in the ZnO nanoparticles.