Formation of supported nanoparticles from island thin films during ion etching

摘要: Abstract Nanosized particles can be prepared either by deposition of material onto a substrate or removing atoms from an already existing structure. While the former approach is well established and widely used, latter hardly explored, although it realized in such simple way as reducing particle sizes island thin film low energy ion bombardment. In this work, process nanoparticle formation has been investigated during Ar + etching silver layers deposited on native silicon oxide amorphous carbon. TEM morphological studies have revealed gradual decrease size islands due to increasing dose. Electron spectroscopic measurements supported lack chemical interaction appreciable intermixing, considered major drawback method. On contrary, more reactive systems gold shown significant mixing induced beam, which suggests that inertness island–substrate couple prerequisite for success preparation etching.