The Effects of Thermal Annealing and Postirradiation on Silver Nanoparticle Films Fabricated by Pulsed Laser Deposition in the Flowless Open Air

• Published in: Physica status solidi. A, Applications and materials science Applications and materials science, 2023-09, Vol.220 (17), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Bonjakhi, Mohsen, Mahdieh, Mohammad Hossein
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ablation; Absorption spectroscopy; Ag nanostructures films; Annealing; annealing in Ar flow; Aqueous solutions; Argon; Field emission microscopy; Gas flow; Laser beams; laser postirradiation; Lasers; Microscopy; Nanoparticles; Neodymium lasers; Pulsed laser deposition; pulsed laser deposition in the flowless open air; Pulsed lasers; Radioactivity; Raman spectroscopy; Rhodamine 6G; Silver; Spectrum analysis; Surface plasmon resonance; surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) applications; YAG lasers
• ISSN: 1862-6300; 1862-6319
• DOI: 10.1002/pssa.202300307

Herein, Ag nanoparticle (NP) films are fabricated by pulsed laser deposition technique in the flowless atmospheric air. A Q‐switched Nd:YAG pulsed laser beam is used for the ablation process. The fabricated NP films are postirradiated by the pulsed laser beam. In addition, as‐deposited NP films are annealed in argon gas flow ambient for 45 min at different temperatures (250, 350, and 450 °C), and also annealed at 450 °C for 15, 30, and 45 min. The characteristics of fabricated NP films are investigated after postirradiating by pulsed laser beam, and thermal annealing in Ar gas flow. UV–vis absorption spectroscopy is utilized to provide surface plasmon resonance (SPR) characteristics of films. The results show that thermal annealing can lead to strong enhancement, and also narrowing of the SPR spectrum. The results of field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy show that the annealing and postirradiation processes can influence the NPs size and film structure. As an application, the fabricated film is utilized for surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) using a 10−6 molar aqueous solution of Rhodamine 6G. The SERS results indicate that the annealed NP films become more sensitive than the as‐deposited films. The fabrication of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) films on substrate by atmospheric pulsed laser deposition as a simple, fast, and cheap method for using in sensor application is reported. Thermal annealing of NPs films leads to surface plasmon resonance enhancement which significantly increases Raman signals in surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy application. Laser postirradiation of NPs films produces porous nanostructures.