Formation of metal-polymer composites by ion implantation

Silver nanoparticles have been synthesized by ion implantation at 30 keV in to polymethyl-methacrylate at doses from 3.1 x 10(15) to 7.5 x 10(16) ion c m(-2) and a beam current 4 mu A cm(-2) at room temperature. Transmission el ectron microscopy was used to determine the structure of the silver-polymer systems obtained. It was observed that in the prepared samples, spherical metal particles with sizes smaller than 12 nm were fabricated. For characte rization of the optical response of the composites, transmittance spectrosc opy was employed. The formation of the silver nanoparticles leads to an inc rease of the optical absorption bends at the plasma wavelength in the visib le range, where the spectral position of the transmittance minimum depends on the implantation conditions. It was observed that the intensity of the a bsorption is very weak in spite of the large quantity of silver particles e xisting in the polymer medium; the factors influencing the optical data are discussed.