Structure and plasmonic properties of thin PMMA layers with ion-synthesized Ag nanoparticles

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles are synthesized in polymethylmethacrylate by 30 keV Ag 1 ion implantation with high fluences. The implantation is accompanied by structural and compositional evolution of the polymer as well as sputtering. The latter causes towering of the shallow nucleated Ag nanoparticles above the surface. The synthesized nanoparticles can be split into two groups: (i) located at the surface and (ii) fully embedded in the shallow layer. These two groups provide corresponding spectral bands related to localized surface plasmonresonance. The bands demonstrate considerable intensity making the synthesized composites promising for plasmonic applications. In particular, one can control conductance by varying metal species and filling factor (metal concentration) in a polymer.3-6 Applications combining electrical and mechanical properties of metal/polymer composites are of significant interest. Good examples are strain gauges and elastomer electrodes. 7,8 The latter provides new perspectives for the use in medicine and smart prosthetics. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and non-linear optical properties of polymers with gold, silver, and copper nanoparticles (NPs) attract a lot of research attention.

Poly(methyl methacrylate) composites with size-selected silver nanoparticles fabricated using cluster beam technique

“…23,24 An advantage of this method is in possibility to use different metal species and synthesize particles in practically any polymer as well as to control the depth at which the particles are nucleated by tuning the ion energy. However, a highfluence implantation leads to significant radiation damage of polymer structure and evolution of composition that becomes a disadvantage for practical use of such composites.…”

Large Area Polymer Composite Films Embedded with Colloidal Quantum Dots for Efficient White Light Generation

“…As can be seen, the green and red colors were well emitted with no appreciable peak shifts. This is partially due to the fact that the PMMA protects the QDs from direct contact with air and moisture and has high optical transmittance in visible region …”

Well-ordered “tooth-shaped” silver-microstructures on poly(methyl methacrylate) patterned by laser writing

“…Ordered metal based microstructures can find potential applications in bioactive materials [16], structures with plasmonic properties [17], materials with magneto and piezo resistivity [18], surfaces with shape-memory [19] and catalytic materials [20].…”