Using GISAXS to Detect Correlations between the Locations of Gold Particles Electrodeposited from an Aqueous Solution

Abstract

Electrodeposition is a powerful tool for the bottom up fabrication of novel electronic devices. This necessitates complete understanding of the deposition process beyond the classical description using current transients. Recent calculations predict deviations within the spatial arrangement of electrodeposited particles, away from random nucleation. The spatial arrangement of Au particles generated through aqueous electrodeposition on a non-templated substrate is investigated by Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering (GISAXS). We show that GISAXS is able to reveal spatial correlations within deposited particles which are not easily detectable by microscopy.

Mesoporous silica films as hard templates for electrodeposition of nanostructured gold

“…In the second and third scan for template 1 Fig S2(a), † reduction peaks were shifted to more positive potentials indicating that the gold particles were electrodeposited on gold instead of the electrode surfaces. 37 There is no obvious change in the reduction peak positions in the case of template 2 Fig S2(b). † The first scan is a characteristic nucleation loop which confirms that greater overpotential is required for nucleation of Au on the electrode surface, and reduction in overpotential for subsequent scans indicates an incomplete stripping process.…”

“…Nucleation and period of pulses was optimised based on previous study related to electrodeposition of gold. 37 Nucleation was performed at −1.5 V for 1 s, followed by growth at −0.1 V for 1 s for 20–100 cycles for template 1. A −1 V potential was applied for 5 s to achieve nucleation followed by deposition at 0 V for a number of pulses ranging from 25–100 for template 2.…”

“…related to the oxidation (stripping) of the electrodeposited gold species. In the second and third scan for template 1 FigS2 (a), reduction peaks were shifted to more positive potentials indicating that the gold particles were electrodeposited on gold instead of the electrode surfaces 37. There is no obvious change in the reduction peak positions in the case of template 2 FigS2 (b).…”

State of the art of ultra-thin gold layers: formation fundamentals and applications

“…In order to successfully prepare UTGLs for various applications, it is necessary to understand fundamentally how the deposited Au grows on different substrates. In recent years, both in situ and ex situ studies have been developed to focus on the growth kinetic and inuencing factors of UTGLs formation on the different substrates, including solid substrates (e.g., silicon (Si) wafers and oxides thin lms), 16,22,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47] so substrates (e.g., polymer thin lms), 28,[48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] and nanostructured substrates (e.g., phase-separated polymer lms, nanostructured oxides thin lms, and quantum dot arrays). [59][60][61][62][63][64] 2.1 On solid substrates Depositing Au on a at solid substrate, such as Si wafer, is regarded as the idealized case to study the UTGL growth without other inuencing factors.…”

“…In recent years, both in situ and ex situ studies have been developed to focus on the growth kinetic and influencing factors of UTGLs formation on the different substrates, including solid substrates ( e.g. , silicon (Si) wafers and oxides thin films), 16,22,32–47 soft substrates ( e.g. , polymer thin films), 28,48–58 and nanostructured substrates ( e.g.…”