Tailoring the Optical Properties of Sputter-Deposited Gold Nanostructures on Nanostructured Titanium Dioxide Templates Based on In Situ Grazing-Incidence Small-Angle X-ray Scattering Determined Growth Laws

Abstract

Gold/titanium dioxide (Au/TiO2) nanohybrid materials have been widely applied in various fields because of their outstanding optical and photocatalytic performance. By state-of-the-art polymer templating, it is possible to make uniform nanostructured TiO2 layers with potentially large-scale processing methods. We use customized polymer templating to achieve TiO2 nanostructures with different morphologies. Au/TiO2 hybrid thin films are fabricated by sputter deposition. An in-depth understanding of the Au morphology on the TiO2 templates is achieved with in situ grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) during the sputter deposition. The resulting Au nanostructure is largely influenced by the TiO2 template morphology. Based on the detailed understanding of the Au growth process, characteristic distances can be selected to achieve tailored Au nanostructures at different Au loadings. For selected sputter-deposited Au/TiO2 hybrid thin films, the optical response with a tailored localized surface plasmon resonance is demonstrated.

Template-Induced Growth of Sputter-Deposited Gold Nanoparticles on Ordered Porous TiO2 Thin Films for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensors

“…Sputter-deposited Au clusters reach the percolation threshold at δ Au = 5.4 nm. In comparison with our previous publication, the growth regimes here are almost congruent with plain TiO 2 films . In our present work, a series of ordered porous Au/TiO 2 nanohybrid thin films are prepared with different Au loadings.…”

“…In order to obtain an ordered porous nanostructure guided by the TiO 2 template, we control the deposition time and restrict the overgrowth of the pores by the Au layer. With regard to the pore size effect, it is expected that the TiO 2 pore size can make a difference in the growth behavior of sputter-deposited Au clusters according to our previous study, resulting in the difference of the Au-growth-related parameters mentioned above (2 R / D , ϑ, and Φ).…”

“…In our previous studies, we successfully demonstrated that using nanostructured organic or inorganic templates can guide the growth behavior of sputter-deposited metal nanostructures, thus tailoring hybrid thin films with different morphologies. , As a key step toward refining manufacturing, it is critical to understand the formation kinetics of the hybrid structure and the involved interfaces. Grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) has been demonstrated to be a versatile and effective technique to probe the surface and interface structures of hybrid and nanocomposite thin films and to correlate their nanostructure to the desired functionality. − …”

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

“…In order to reveal such effects, S. Liang et al prepared TiO 2 thin films with different morphology to act as templates for the Au sputter deposition, and investigated the growth processes of deposited Au on these different TiO 2 substrates by using in situ GISAXS. 63 Tuning the morphology of TiO 2 thin films was realized by typical sol–gel synthesis, resulting in porous and reticular TiO 2 thin films. Besides, a compact TiO 2 thin films was also prepared as a reference.…”

“…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. Therefore, many fundamental studies focused on the growth processes of UTGLs on Si wafers and other at solid substrates.…”