Controlling the structure and size of Au nanocrystals by annealing and ion sputtering

In situ thermal annealing was used for the first time to observe directly that Au nanoparticles, which were originally fully embedded in the near-surface region of TiO(2), can be tailored into hemispheres exposed at the surface at elevated temperature. Precise control of the size of the Au hemispheres was achieved by subsequent low-energy ion sputtering. This method can be used to control the structure and size of a wide variety of nanoparticles in a matrix where surface structure and particle size are required to obtain specific material properties.