Optical and water repellant properties of Ag/SnO2 bilayer thin films

Ravipati Praveena; Gottapu. Varaprasada Rao; Karna Balasubrahmanyam; M. Ghanashyam Krishna; Vinjanampati Madhurima; Ravipati Praveena; Gottapu. Varaprasada Rao; Karna Balasubrahmanyam; M. Ghanashyam Krishna; Vinjanampati Madhurima

doi:10.3934/matersci.2016.1.231

AIMS Materials Science

2016, Volume 3, Issue 1: 231-244. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2016.1.231

Previous Article Next Article

Research article

Optical and water repellant properties of Ag/SnO2 bilayer thin films

1.
Department of Physics, GVP College of Engineering (A), Visakhapatnam - 530 048, India
2.
Centre for Advanced Studies in Electronics Science and Technology, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad-500 046, India
3.
Department of Physics, School of Basic and Applied Sciences, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, Tamil Nadu - 610101, India

Received: 27 November 2015 Accepted: 18 February 2016 Published: 25 February 2016

The optical and water repellant properties of single layer and bilayer films of Ag and SnO₂ deposited on glass substrates by thermal evaporation have been reported. Ag/SnO₂ bilayers were deposited in two sequences wherein the deposition of SnO₂ layer was followed by Ag deposition and vice versa. X-ray diffraction studies show that the Ag films crystallize in the FCC structure and SnO₂ is amorphous, while atomic force microscopy images indicate the formation of large clusters of the order of 12 nm. The single layer Ag films exhibit localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) that shifts from visible region to the infrared with increase in thickness from 5 to 12 nm. It is observed that, only the Ag films of thickness ≤ 8 nm exhibits LSPR peak whereas the critical thickness is 5 nm for Ag/SnO₂ films. A blue shift is observed in the LSPR peak position when the SnO₂ layer caps the Ag film. Whereas, the LSPR of Ag is suppressed significantly when the SnO₂ layer is introduced between the glass and the Ag film and also when Ag and SnO₂ were co-evaporated. Water repellant properties indicate that the pure Ag film has an average contact angle of 104^o which decreases to 100^o when SnO₂ caps the Ag layer and 97^o when Ag is deposited on top of the SnO₂ buffer layer. Co-evaporated Ag-SnO₂ films show a contact angle of 93^o.
- Ag,
- SnO₂,
- metal-dielectric thin films,
- surface plasmon resonance,
- wettability
Citation: Ravipati Praveena, Gottapu. Varaprasada Rao, Karna Balasubrahmanyam, M. Ghanashyam Krishna, Vinjanampati Madhurima. Optical and water repellant properties of Ag/SnO2 bilayer thin films[J]. AIMS Materials Science, 2016, 3(1): 231-244. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2016.1.231

Related Papers:

Abstract

The optical and water repellant properties of single layer and bilayer films of Ag and SnO₂ deposited on glass substrates by thermal evaporation have been reported. Ag/SnO₂ bilayers were deposited in two sequences wherein the deposition of SnO₂ layer was followed by Ag deposition and vice versa. X-ray diffraction studies show that the Ag films crystallize in the FCC structure and SnO₂ is amorphous, while atomic force microscopy images indicate the formation of large clusters of the order of 12 nm. The single layer Ag films exhibit localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) that shifts from visible region to the infrared with increase in thickness from 5 to 12 nm. It is observed that, only the Ag films of thickness ≤ 8 nm exhibits LSPR peak whereas the critical thickness is 5 nm for Ag/SnO₂ films. A blue shift is observed in the LSPR peak position when the SnO₂ layer caps the Ag film. Whereas, the LSPR of Ag is suppressed significantly when the SnO₂ layer is introduced between the glass and the Ag film and also when Ag and SnO₂ were co-evaporated. Water repellant properties indicate that the pure Ag film has an average contact angle of 104^o which decreases to 100^o when SnO₂ caps the Ag layer and 97^o when Ag is deposited on top of the SnO₂ buffer layer. Co-evaporated Ag-SnO₂ films show a contact angle of 93^o.

References

[1]	Simakov VV, Yakusheva OV, Grebennikov AI, et al. (2005) Current-voltage characteristics of thin-film gas sensor structures based on tin oxide. Tech Phys Lett 31: 339–340. doi: 10.1134/1.1920390
[2]	Tibucio-Silver A, Sanchez-Juarez A (2004) SnO₂: Ga thin films as oxygen gas sensor. Mat Sci Eng B-Solid 110: 268–271. doi: 10.1016/j.mseb.2004.02.013
[3]	Batzill M, Diebold U (2005) The surface and materials science of tin oxide. Prog Surf Sci 79: 47–154. doi: 10.1016/j.progsurf.2005.09.002
[4]	Yu B, Zhu C, Gan F (1997) Exiciton spectra of SnO₂ nanocrystals with surficial dipole layer. Opt Mater 7: 15–20. doi: 10.1016/S0925-3467(96)00060-2
[5]	Menini P, Parret F, Gerrero M, et al.(2004) CO response of a nanostructured SnO₂ gas sensor doped with palladium and platinum. Sens Actu B Chem 103: 111–114.
[6]	Gupta S, Roy RK, Pal Chowdhury M, et al. (2004) Synthesis of SnO₂/Pd composite films by PVD route for a liquid petroleum gas sensor. Vacuum 75: 111–119. doi: 10.1016/j.vacuum.2004.01.075
[7]	Aguilar-Leyva J, Maldonado A, de La L Olvera M (2007) Gas sensing characteristics of undoped-SnO₂ thin films and Ag/SnO₂ and SnO₂/Ag. Mater Charact 58: 740–744. doi: 10.1016/j.matchar.2006.11.016
[8]	Zhang J (1995) Silver clusters on SnO₂ thin film surfaces and their application to gas sensors. Ph.D Thesis, in the Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University.
[9]	Yu SH, Jia CH, Zheng HW, et al. (2012) High quality transparent conductive SnO₂/Ag/SnO₂ tri-layer films deposited at room temperature by magnetron sputtering. Mater Lett 85: 68–70. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2012.06.108
[10]	Yu S, Zhang W, Li L, et al. (2014) Optimization of SnO₂/Ag/SnO₂ tri-layer films as transparent composite electrode with high figure of merit. Thin Solid Films 552: 15–154.
[11]	Dhar Purkayastha D, Pandeeswari R, Madhurima V, et al. (2013) Metal buffer layer mediated wettability of nanostructured TiO₂films. Mater Lett 92: 151–153. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2012.10.070
[12]	Dhar Purkayastha D, Ghanashyam Krishna M, Madhurima V (2014) Molybdenum doped tin oxide thin films for self-cleaning applications. Mater Lett 124: 21–24.
[13]	Dhar Purkayastha D, Brahma R, Madhurima V, et al. (2015) Effects of metal doping on photoinduced hydrophilicity of SnO₂thin films. Bulletin Mater Sci 38: 203–208. doi: 10.1007/s12034-014-0820-9
[14]	Nakajima A, Abe K, Hashimoto K, et al. (2000) Preparation of hard super-hydrophobic films with visible light transmission. Thin Sol Films 376: 140–143. doi: 10.1016/S0040-6090(00)01417-6
[15]	Leem JW, Song YM, Yu JS (2011) Broadband wide-angle antireflection enhancement in AZO/Si shell/core subwavelength grating structures with hydrophobic surface for Si-based solar cells. Opt Express 19: A1155.
[16]	Manakasettharn S, Hsu T, Myhre G, et al. (2012) Transparent and superhydrophobic Ta₂O₅nanostructured thin films. Opt Mat Exp 2: 214–221. doi: 10.1364/OME.2.000214
[17]	Marco F, Lionel N, Boissière C, et al. (2010) Hydrophobic, Antireflective, Self-Cleaning, and Antifogging Sol−Gel Coatings: An Example of Multifunctional Nanostructured Materials for Photovoltaic Cells. Chem Mater 22: 4406–4413. doi: 10.1021/cm100937e
[18]	Mohiddon AM, Krishna GM (2013) Crystallite size and film–substrate interface mediated structural evolution of silicon thin films. J Phy Chem Solids 74: 1249–1253. doi: 10.1016/j.jpcs.2013.03.026
[19]	Campbell CT (1997) Ultrathin metal films and particles on oxide surfaces: structural, electronic and chemisorptive properties. Surf Sci Rep 27: 1–111. doi: 10.1016/S0167-5729(96)00011-8
[20]	Venables JA, Spiller JDT, Handbucken M (1984) Nucleation and growth of thin films. Rep Prog Phys 47: 399. doi: 10.1088/0034-4885/47/4/002
[21]	Henry CR (1998) Surface studies of supported model catalysts. Surf Sci Rep 31: 235–325.
[22]	Carrey J, Maurice JL, Petroff F, et al. (2002) Growth of Au clusters on amorphous Al₂O₃: are small clusters more mobile than atoms? Surf Sci 504: 75–82.
[23]	Toudert J, Cameli D, Denanot MF (2005) Morphology and surface-plasmon resonance of silver nanoparticles sandwiched between Si₃N₄and BN layers. J Appl Phys 98: 114316. doi: 10.1063/1.2139828
[24]	Thornton JA (1977) High rate thick film growth. Ann Rev Mater Sci 7: 239–260. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ms.07.080177.001323
[25]	Barna PB, Adamik M (1998) Fundamental structure forming phenomena of polycrystalline films and the structure zone models. Thin Solid Films 317: 27–33. doi: 10.1016/S0040-6090(97)00503-8
[26]	Brahma R, Ghanashyam KM (2011) Optical behavior of silver/dielectric and gold/dielectric bilayer thin films. Physica E 43: 1192–1198. doi: 10.1016/j.physe.2011.01.027
[27]	Brahma R, Ghanashyam KM (2012) Interface controlled growth of nanostructures in discontinuous Ag and Au thin films fabricated by ion beam sputter deposition for plasmonic application. Bull Mater Sci 35: 551–560. doi: 10.1007/s12034-012-0333-3
[28]	Hu J, Cai W, Liu P, et al. (2010) Evolution of Surface Plasmon Resonance for Silver Particle Film on Mesoporous SiO₂and Soda-LimeGlass During Heating in Air and H₂. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 10: 5369–5373. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2010.1942
[29]	Politano A, Formoso V, Chiarello G (2010) Plasmonic Modes Confined in Nanoscale Thin Silver Films Deposited onto Metallic Substrates. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 10: 1313–1321. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2010.1834
[30]	Baek KH, Kim JH, Lee KB (2010) Surface Plasmon Resonance of Tuning of Silver Nanoparticle Array Produced by Nanosphere Lithography through Ion Etching and Thermal Annealing. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 10: 3118–3122. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2010.2176
[31]	Murray WA, Suckling JR, Barnes WL (2006) Overlayers on Silver Nanotriangles: Field Confinement and Spectral Position of Localized Suface Plasmon Resonances. Nano Lett 6: 1772–1777. doi: 10.1021/nl060812e
[32]	Evanoff DD, Chumanov G (2005) Synthesis of optical properties of silver nanoparticles and arrays. Chem Phys Chem 6: 1221–1231.
[33]	Joerger R, Gampp R, Heinzel A, et al. (1998) Optical properties of inhomogeneous media. Sol Eng Mater Sol Cells 54: 351–361. doi: 10.1016/S0927-0248(98)00086-5
[34]	Moiseev SG (2009) Optical properties of a Maxwell-Garnett composite medium with nonspherical silver inclusions. Russian Phys J 52: 1121–1127. doi: 10.1007/s11182-010-9349-6
[35]	Protopapa ML (2009) Surface Plasmon resonance of metal nanoparticles sandwitched between dielectric layers: theoretical modeling. Appl Optics 48: 778–785. doi: 10.1364/AO.48.000778
[36]	Reinhard BM, Siu M, Agarwal H (2005) Calibration of Dynamic Molecular Rulers based on Plasmon Coupling between Gold nanoparticles. Nano Lett 5: 2246–2252. doi: 10.1021/nl051592s
[37]	Verma S, Tirumala RB, Rai S (2012) Influence of parameters on surface plasmon resonance characteristics of densely packed gold nanoparticle films grown by pulsed laser deposition. Appl Surf Sci 258: 4898–4905. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2012.01.111
[38]	Wang J-F, Li H-J, Zhou Z-Y, et al. (2010) Tunable surface-plasmon-resonance wavelength of silver island films. Chin Phys B 19: 117310 doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/19/11/117310
[39]	Xu G, Tazawa M, Jin P, et al. (2005) Surface Plasmon resonance of sputtered Ag films: Substrate and mass thickness dependence. Appl Phys A 80: 1535–1540. doi: 10.1007/s00339-003-2395-y
[40]	Kelly KL, Coronado E, Zhao LL, et al. (2003) The Optical Properties of Metal Nanoparticles: The Influence of size, shape, and Dielectric Environment. J Phys Chem B 107: 668–677.
[41]	Cecilia Noguez (2007) Surface Plasmons on Metal Nanoparticles: The Influence of Shape and Physical Environment. J Phys Chem C 111: 3806–3819. doi: 10.1021/jp066539m
[42]	Koledintseva MY, DuBroff RE, Schwartz RW (2006) A Maxwell Garnett Model for Dielectric Mixtures containing conducting particles at Optical Frequencies. Prog Electromag Res PIER 63: 223–242. doi: 10.2528/PIER06052601
[43]	Kolrdintseva MY, Wu J, Zhang J (2004) Representation of permittivity for multi-phase dielectric mixtures in FDTD modeling. Proc Inter Symp Electromag Compat (EMC) 1: 309–314.
[44]	Young T (1805) An Essay on cohesion of solids. Philos Trans R Soc London 95: 65–87. doi: 10.1098/rstl.1805.0005
[45]	Wenzel RN (1936) Resistance of solid surfaces to wetting by water. Ind Eng Chem 28: 988–994.

Reader Comments

Your name:*

Email:*
© 2016 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)