Synthesis and characterization of surface embedded silver nanoparticles in ZnO matrix

The present work concerns the fabrication and the investigation of Ag nanoparticles, surface embedded in the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) grown ZnO thin films. The third-harmonic Nd:YAG laser is used for PLD of ZnO thin films. The ion implantation technique for Ag doping in ZnO matrix is used. The morphology, texture and composition of the samples are investigated. The Ag distribution in the implanted near-surface region is investigated as a function of the processing conditions. The influence of the substrate temperature and ambient oxygen pressure during the PLD growth of ZnO films is studied. The applied processing parameters during the deposition of ZnO thin films lead to different microstructure of ZnO host matrix and have a significant impact on the properties of subsequently produced Ag/ZnO nanocomposites. The changes of optical surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band of synthesized Ag nanoparticles for different morphologies are analyzed for implanted samples. The composite nanostructures are found to exhibit SPR absorption properties of metal nanoparticles after the ion implantation, especially pronounced for the samples with laser grown ZnO matrix at high substrate temperatures. This study demonstrates how the different crystal structure of the ZnO supporting material, influences the Ag implantation process and, respectively, the properties of the produced Ag/ZnO nanocomposites.