Preparation and characterization of silver and its oxides nanostructure thin films via pulsed laser ablation (PLA) and inert gas condensation (IGC) /
تحضير وتوصيف الأغشية الرقيقة النانومترية من الفضة وأكاسيدها بواسطة تقنيات الإقتلاع بالليزر والترسيب بالغاز الخامل
Ahmed Ramadan Abdelmontaleb Elbanna ; Supervised Yosr Ezz Eldin Gamal , Hisham Imam Mahmoud , Inas Ahmed Kamal Elzawawi
- Cairo : Ahmed Ramadan Abdelmontaleb Elbanna , 2017
- 120 P. : charts , facsimiles ; 25cm
Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - National Institute of Laser - Department of Laser Applications in Environmtion Metrology Photochemistry and Agriculture
This research was conducted to prepare and characterize nanostructure thin films of Ag, AgO and Ag/AgO nanocomposite using Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) and Inert Gas Condensation (IGC) techniques by applying different starting ingot sources. A full characterization of all prepared thin films was carried out using different techniques. This includes a detailed study of the structural characteristics, surface morphology, electrical properties, photoluminescence (PL) and optical properties. The obtained results visualized that controlling the optical properties of the nanocrystalline AgO films prepared by PLD technique could be mediated for certain applications through the control of the ablation time (Tab) at fixed value of both; the oxygen pressure (0.3 mbar) and the substrate temperature (300 K). On the other hand, the films deposited by IGC technique using Ag₂O powder ingot source did not provide any advantage over depositing pure metallic silver shot. Since the obtained films are found to be metallic in nature (Ag) even if the starting ingot material was pure Ag₂O powder. Moreover using this technique, Ag/AgO nanocomposite thin films, which possess semiconductor behavior, could be obtained from different ingot sources at annealing temperatures exceeding 373 K and annealing time greater than 2 h in the presence of O₂atmosphere. The PL spectra of Ag/AgO films, prepared from different ingot sources, annealing temperatures and annealing time, showed lines of Ag. This could be attributed to the decomposition of AgOx into O₂ and small metallic Ag particles/clusters by the incident PL excitation beam. This property could nominate these films for ultrahigh-density optical data storage applications. The study showed that the optical properties of all Ag, AgO and Ag/AgO nanocomposite thin films prepared by PLD and IGC techniques from different ores could be controlled through the control of particle size (Ps), Tab, annealing temperature, annealing time and the atomic percentage of oxygen introduced in the films