In Situ GISAXS Study of Gold Film Growth on Conducting Polymer Films

Abstract

The growth of a thin gold film on a conducting polymer surface from nucleation to formation of a continuous layer with a thickness of several nanometers is investigated in situ with grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). Time resolution is achieved by performing the experiment in cycles of gold deposition on poly(N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) and subsequently recording the GISAXS data. The 2D GISAXS patterns are simulated, and morphological parameters of the gold film on PVK such as the cluster size, shape, and correlation distance are extracted. For the quantitative description of the cluster size evolution, scaling laws are applied. The time evolution of the cluster morphology is explained with a growth model, suggesting a cluster growth proceeding in four steps, each dominated by a characteristic kinetic process: nucleation, lateral growth, coarsening, and vertical growth. A very limited amount of 6.5 wt % gold is observed to be incorporated inside a 1.2-nm-thick enrichment layer in the PVK film.

Metal-Polymer Nanocomposites: (Co-)Evaporation/(Co)Sputtering Approaches and Electrical Properties

“…When using vapor phase deposition techniques (such as evaporation or sputtering) to growth metal NPs or films on polymeric surfaces, noble metals like Au and Ag grow, during the initial stage, as spherical clusters on polymer surfaces [13,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32], i.e., according to a Volmer-Weber [33] growth mode. This is due to a higher (two orders of magnitude) cohesive energy of metals with respect to the polymers' cohesive energy.…”

“…Regarding the exploitation of the particular metal/polymer system, the key point of study is the interaction occurring at the metal-polymer interface. In fact, properties as film adhesion and electrical contact properties are determined by the interface structure [6][7][8][9]13]. So, of key importance is understanding the growth kinetics of the metal film on/in the polymer surface/matrix, how the polymer influences the metal film morphology, and the electron transport mechanism in the nanocomposite.…”

Gold Nanostructures Prepared on Solid Surface

“…When the surface coverage increases and the clusters get in close contact with each other, a coarsening sets in and becomes the dominant process. After the surface is fully covered, additional adsorption causes only the vertical layer growth, while the lateral growth is dominated by cluster boundary motion [51]. The AFM images that illustrate the surface morphology and roughness (Ra) of gold-coated glass before and after annealing are shown in Fig.…”

Time-Resolved Ultrathin Cobalt Film Growth on a Colloidal Polymer Template

“…7 Therefore, much effort has been put into better understanding of the growth process and structural transition of nanocomposites. 8,9 It has been shown that the optical and electrical properties of a metal-polymer film are very sensitive to small changes in the composition and/or morphology of the film and that this sensitivity is drastically increased near the percolation threshold, 10 when a conducting path is formed for the first time.…”