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Published on: October 9, 2012
TiN nanoparticles: small size-selected fabrication and their quantum size effect
Luis Carlos Hernández Mainet1, Luis Ponce Cabrera, Eugenio Rodriguez
1Laboratory of Laser Technology, CICATA-IPN, Altamira, Tamaulipas, 89600, Mexico. luiscar23@yahoo.com.
Nanoscale Research Letters
|January 19, 2012
Summary
Researchers created size-controlled titanium nitride (TiN) nanoclusters using an ionized cluster beam. These nanoclusters exhibit strong visible luminescence, a novel finding attributed to their reduced size.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Solid State Physics
Background:
- Titanium nitride (TiN) is a material with diverse applications.
- Controlling nanoparticle size is crucial for tuning material properties.
- Understanding size-dependent phenomena in TiN nanoclusters is an active research area.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize size-selected titanium nitride (TiN) nanoclusters.
- To investigate the photoluminescence (PL) properties of TiN nanoclusters as a function of size.
- To report the visible luminescence of TiN nanoclusters.
Main Methods:
- Ionized cluster beam deposition, combining glow-discharge sputtering and inert gas condensation.
- Mass spectroscopy for pre-deposition size distribution analysis.
- Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) for size distribution confirmation.
- Experimental investigation of photoluminescence (PL) spectra.
Main Results:
- Successfully produced size-selected TiN nanoclusters in the 4-20 nm range with high size control.
- Determined and confirmed the size distribution using mass spectroscopy, AFM, and HRTEM.
- Observed and reported strong visible luminescence from TiN nanoclusters on Si (111) wafers.
- Investigated the relationship between PL intensity and nanocluster size distribution.
Conclusions:
- The ionized cluster beam technique enables precise size control of TiN nanoclusters.
- Reduced TiN nanocluster size leads to strong visible photoluminescence.
- PL intensity is dependent on the size distribution of TiN nanoclusters.
