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Water as buffer material for gold nanocluster growth
Elad Gross1, Yonatan Horowitz, Micha Asscher
1Department of Physical Chemistry and the Farkas Center for Light-Induced Processes, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|September 7, 2005
Summary
Amorphous solid water (ASW) layers act as a buffer to control gold nanocluster growth on SiO2/Si(100). Thicker ASW layers and increased gold deposition result in larger nanoclusters with lower density.
Area of Science:
- Surface Science
- Nanotechnology
- Materials Science
Background:
- Controlling nanocluster morphology is crucial for their applications.
- Buffer layers can influence the growth and properties of deposited nanomaterials.
- Amorphous solid water (ASW) has been explored as a potential buffer material.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the use of ASW layers as a buffer for gold nanocluster growth on SiO2/Si(100).
- To determine how ASW layer thickness and gold deposition amount affect nanocluster characteristics.
- To compare the morphology of gold nanoclusters grown on ASW with those grown directly or on other buffers.
Main Methods:
- Formation of amorphous solid water (ASW) layers on SiO2/Si(100) at 140 K.
- Deposition of gold onto the ASW buffer layers.
- Annealing and desorption of the ASW buffer.
- Characterization of gold nanoclusters using tapping mode Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) for height and high-resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) for diameter and density.
Main Results:
- Average nanocluster height (0.5-4.5 nm) and diameter (3-9 nm) increased with ASW thickness (7-100 ML) and gold deposition (0.2-1.2 Å).
- Nanocluster density decreased significantly (from 65 x 10^10 to 8 x 10^10 cm^-2) as ASW thickness increased.
- Distinctly different nanocluster morphologies were observed compared to direct gold deposition or growth on a Xenon buffer.
Conclusions:
- ASW layers effectively serve as a tunable buffer for controlling gold nanocluster size and density on SiO2/Si(100).
- The ASW buffer approach offers a method to achieve specific nanocluster morphologies.
- This technique provides a pathway for tailoring nanocluster properties for advanced applications.