Formation of Silver Nanoparticles on Silica by Solid-State Dewetting of Deposited Film

Silver nanoparticles were formed on silica substrates through thin film dewetting at high temperature. The microstructural and morphological evolution of the particles were characterized as a function of processing variables such as initial film thickness, annealing time, and temperature. Silver thin films were deposited onto the silica using a pulsed laser deposition system and annealed in reducing atmosphere to induce agglomeration of the films. The film thicknesses before dewetting were in the range of 5 to 25 nm. A noticeable agglomeration occurs with annealing at temperatures higher than 300 degrees C, and higher annealing temperature increases particle size uniformity for the same film thickness sample. Average particle size linearly correlates to the film thickness, but it does not strongly depend on annealing temperature and time, although threshold temperature for complete dewetting increases with an increase of film thickness. Lower annealing temperature develops faceted surface morphology of the silver particles by enhancing the growth of the low index crystal plane of the particles.