Controlled growth of silver nanoparticles on indium tin oxide substrates by plasma-assisted hot-filament evaporation: Physical properties, composition, and electronic structure

Deposition of Silver Nanoparticles on Indium Tin Oxide Substrates by Plasma-Assisted Hot-Filament Evaporation

“…However, deposition of these nanoparticles on conducting layer (ITO) may affect on the surface conductivity of the conducting layer. The sheet resistances of ITO surface with Ag nanoparticles prepared with using plasma at different substrate temperatures of 25, 80, 140, 200, 250°C are about 7.75, 7.45, 8, 8.87 and 16.91 Ohm/square, respectively [33]. At the substrate temperature below 200°C, there is no significant effect in the sheet resistances of ITO with Ag nanoparticles and pure ITO (7.68 Ohm/square).…”

“…The optical band gap for ITO with Ag nanoparticles prepared at 25, 80, 140, 200, 250°C of substrate temperatures are about 4.131, 4.097, 4.076, 4.098 and 4.134 eV, respectively [33]. The decreasing of the optical energy gap of the ITO with Ag nanoparticles compared to the determined band gap of the ITO around 4.153 eV is due to the small band gap of Ag 2 O and AgO about 1.46 and 1.7 eV, respectively [50,51].…”

“…This means that Ag nanoparticles diffuse away from the ITO surface at higher temperatures due to incorporation of SnO and In 2 O 3 particles as shell layers onto the Ag nanoparticles. Li et al have reported decreasing in the Ag content at heattreatment temperature above 300°C due to the diffusion of Ag nanoparticles away [33].…”

“…Figure 10 shows the energy levels diagram of pure ITO and ITO with Ag nanoparticles. The increasing in the energy difference of ITO with Ag nanoparticles compared to pure ITO has been reported to be null due to an increasing in quantity of free electrons in the Fermi level [33].…”

“…The formation of Ag nanoparticles at different substrate temperatures using PAHFE technique was sequentially clarified in two processes, plasma cleaning and plasma deposition. For the plasma cleaning, a high energetic hydrogen ions as a [33].…”