X-ray absorption spectroscopy for metal-implanted silica

Abstract

Ion implantation is an effective way to prepare metal nanocluster composite glass thin films. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) gives unique information on these systems, allowing to track cluster formation and composition, even at sub-nanometer range of size, as well as the metal ions that remain dispersed and bonded to the matrix; the XAS analysis, intrinsically focused on the short-range order, gives information complementary to those obtained by X-ray diffraction that in some interesting cases are crucial to explain the macroscopic optical or magnetic properties of this kind of systems.