Abstract

Instability in the plasmonic response of nanostructured gold (Au) thin films on ambient ageing has been investigated. Different types of Au nanostructures (island, percolated, and continuous thin film) are obtained at the early stage of thin film growth by variation in film thickness using sputtering technique. Absorbance spectra of as-deposited island Au film shows a systematic blue-shift in the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peak position on ageing. The rate of blue-shift in the LSPR peak position is fitted with single-exponential decay function to analyse the dynamics of the plasmonic response. The as-deposited percolated Au film displays a transformation of broadened plasmonic response into a wavelength independent absorbance profile on ageing. The immersion of a new plasmonic band in the absorbance spectra is noted for continuous Au thin film on ageing. The change in plasmonic responses of nanostructured Au thin films on ambient ageing is found to be directly correlated with the re-organization of the surface morphology. Finally, ageing-induced solid-state dewetting and crystallization are found to be the main responsible processes of the underlying mechanism for morphological re-organizations, leading to change in the plasmonic response of the nanostructured Au thin films.

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