Novel Method of Preparation of Gold-Nanoparticle-Doped TiO2 and SiO2 Plasmonic Thin Films: Optical Characterization and Comparison with Maxwell–Garnett Modeling
✍ Scribed by Esteban Pedrueza; José L. Valdés; Vladimir Chirvony; Rafael Abargues; Jesús Hernández-Saz; Miriam Herrera; Sergio I. Molina; Juan P. Martínez-Pastor
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2011
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 730 KB
- Volume
- 21
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1616-301X
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✦ Synopsis
Novel Method of Preparation of Gold-Nanoparticle-Doped TiO 2 and SiO 2 Plasmonic Thin Films: Optical Characterization and Comparison with Maxwell-Garnett Modeling SiO 2 and TiO 2 thin fi lms with gold nanoparticles (NPs) are of particular interest as photovoltaic materials. A novel method for the preparation of spincoated SiO 2 -Au and TiO 2 -Au nanocomposites is presented. This fast and inexpensive method, which includes three separate stages, is based on the in situ synthesis of both the metal-oxide matrix and the Au NPs during a baking process at relatively low temperature. It allows the formation of nanocomposite thin fi lms with a higher concentration of Au NPs than other methods. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies revealed a homogeneous distribution of NPs over the fi lm volume along with their narrow size distribution. The optical manifestation of localized surface plasmon resonance was studied in more detail for TiO 2 -based Au-doped nanocomposite fi lms deposited on glass (in absorption and transmittance) and silicon (in specular refl ectance). Maxwell-Garnett effective-medium theory applied to such metal-doped nanocomposite fi lms describes the peculiarities of the experimental spectra, including modifi cation of the antirefl ective properties of bare TiO 2 fi lms deposited on silicon by varying the concentration of metal NPs. The antirefl ective capabilities of the fi lm are increased after a wet etching process.