Ion beam induced nanosized Ag metal clusters in glass

Abstract

The formation of silver-metal clusters has been studied in ion-exchanged soda-lime glass following swift heavy ion irradiation at ISL. While the transformation into a metallic chemical form was detected with X-ray absorption spectroscopy (EXAFS) the shape and geometrical arrangement was studied both by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). A chain-like arrangement of nanoclusters of approximately 7 nm in diameter observed in TEM was further investigated with in situ SAXS during the subsequent annealing process.

Ion-beam induced nano-sized Ag-metal clusters in glass

“…This finding has to be attributed to the higher energy density being transferred to the electronic system of the material which seems to be sufficiently high enough above the threshold for ion track formation in these glasses in the case of irradiation with Si ions used in Ref. [7] and well above the threshold in the case of the Au ion irradiation used in our previous [8] and present investigation.…”

“…We have used the ion-exchange process to incorporate Ag into borosilicate glass as described already in [8]. Glass plates, typically 0.1 mm [9], were immersed in a molten salt bath of a mixture of 1 mol% AgNO 3 and NaNO 3 at a temperature of 340 • C for typically 30 min.…”

“…For further details on the handling, mounting, and treating (annealing) of the samples after the irradiation see Ref. [8].…”

“…[8]). The absorption was measured at the absorption edges of Ag in the ion-exchanged glasses as well as in silver oxide and silver metal for comparison.…”

“…Studies using laser irradiation and irradiations with light or low energy ions with only little energy transfer to the electrons in the material ("electronic stopping") combined with annealing procedures already showed some influence on the cluster formation and size distribution [5,6]. In the most recent studies using swift heavy ions, a "directionality" showed up as a special feature of the metallic cluster formation in glass: metallic silver clusters were observed in a chain-like arrangement along the direction of the ion beam [7,8]. This finding has to be attributed to the higher energy density being transferred to the electronic system of the material which seems to be sufficiently high enough above the threshold for ion track formation in these glasses in the case of irradiation with Si ions used in Ref.…”