In-situ characterization of metal clusters supported on a birefringent substrate using reflectance difference spectroscopy Article uri icon

abstract

  • Reflectance difference spectroscopy has been applied for the in-situ characterization of the growth of Ag cluster films on insulating birefringent Al2O3 101̄0substrates in the spectral range of 1.5-5 eV. Information on the individual cluster, cluster film morphology and growth are derived from the anisotropy of the in-plane plasmon resonances in comparison with scanning electron microscopy images. In particular, the evolution of the dipolar resonance has been attributed to two distinct stages of coarsening involving particle aggregation and ripening, and to the development of anisotropic particle shapes for higher Ag coverages. The effect of the formation of anisotropic electrostatic images in the birefringent substrate is used to explain the spectra even in the absence of structural anisotropies.

publication date

  • 2010-01-01