Ion-Beam-Assisted Deposition of Metal Nanocluster thin Films with Nonlinear Optical Properties

Abstract

AbstractMetal nanocluster thin films (∼200 nm thickness) consisting of noble metal (Au) clusters (5-30 nm) in an active metal oxide (Nb2O5) matrix were deposited by evaporation or ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD). In some cases the films were given a post-deposition anneal. The microstructure of the films was examined by plan view and cross sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The size of the metal nanoclusters was found to depend upon the temperature of the post-deposition anneal as well as the conditions of ion bombardment. Ion bombardment was found to stabilize smaller size particles. The linear optical properties of the films, as measured by VIS/UV spectroscopy, show particle size-dependent surface plasmon resonance effects. The nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of the nanoclusters in oxidized niobium were probed experimentally using degenerate four wave mixing (DFWM) and nonlinear transmission (NLT). The DFWM measurements yielded signals that showed strong evidence of saturation and give large values of χ(3)xxxxl. NLT measurements demonstrated that the nonlinear absorption coefficient and, hence, Imχ(3)xxxx was negative. Time resolved DFWM measurements exhibited dynamics that decayed on a several picosecond time scale. The magnitude and the picosecond dynamics of the NLO response were compared to those observed in gold nanoclusters formed by ion implantation in other media. The advantages of the IBAD method for fabricating third order NLO films include the ability to deposit films of arbitrary active region thicknesses and, more importantly, high cluster densities.