11 research outputs found

    Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of amorphous TiO2 thin films by gold nanostructures: Revealing first layer effect with thickness variation

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    International audienceIn this paper, amorphous titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films have been deposited on a commercially available Klarite substrate using the sol-gel process to produce surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The substrate consists of square arrays of micrometer-sized pyramidal pits in silicon with a gold coating. Several thin TiO2 layers have been deposited on the surface to study the influence of film thickness. Ultimately, we obtained information on SERS of an amorphous TiO2 layer by gold nanostructures, whose range is less than a few nanometers. Mechanisms responsible for the enhancement are the product of concomitant chemical and electromagnetic effects with an important contribution from plasmon-induced charge transfe

    Nano-assembling and optical properties of sub-100 nm raspberry-like nanoparticles

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    International audienceThe optical properties of sub-100 nm raspberry-like nano-systems composed of highly monodisperse silica particles and large gold nanoparticles (GNPs) is studied experimentally. The nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by a self-assembly method, and the pH of each solution was determined by measuring the ζ-potential to ensure the stability of the nano-systems. Dynamic light scattering measurements show a narrow size distribution of NPs, and fairly dispersed particles in solution. The obtained nanoraspberries was also studied by transmission electron microscopy, which shows that the GNPs closely packed on the surface of silica particles. This effect induced a broadening and a shift of the absorption band to higher wavelengths, with an increase in GNPs density. It was also observed that the reduced size of silica particles resulted in a shortening of the inter-particles distance, which has favoured the generation of many hot spots in the gaps between GNPs. The tenability of obtained plasmon bands may have benefits in SERS probe, photocatalysis and fluorescence-based bioimaging

    Optical emission and electron capture of rare-earth trivalent ions located at distinct sites in SnO(2) thin films

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    We present photoluminescence and decay of photo excited conductivity data for sol-gel SnO(2) thin films doped with rare earth ions Eu(3+) and Er(3+), a material with nanoscopic crystallites. Photoluminescence spectra are obtained under excitation with several monochromatic light sources, such as Kr(+) and Ar(+) lasers, Xe lamp plus a selective monochromator with UV grating, and the fourth harmonic of a Nd: YAG laser (4.65eV), which assures band-to-band transition and energy transfer to the ion located at matrix sites, substitutional to Sn(4+). The luminescence structure is rather different depending on the location of the rare-earth doping, at lattice symmetric sites or segregated at grain boundary layer, where it is placed in asymmetric sites. The decay of photo-excited conductivity also shows different trapping rate depending on the rare-earth concentration. For Er-doped films, above the saturation limit, the evaluated capture energy is higher than for films with concentration below the limit, in good agreement with the different behaviour obtained from luminescence data. For Eu-doped films, the difference between capture energy and grain boundary barrier is not so evident, even though the luminescence spectra are rather distinct
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