Preparation and characterizacion of functional and non-functional nanocomposites

Functional nanocomposites like Si/ZnO, Au/ZnO and non-functional nanocompos ites like Cu/SiO2 were prepared either by r.f. cosputtering or by ion-impla ntation technique. The composite films were prepared with different composi tions and thermally treated at different temperatures to study the variatio n of their optical properties with composition and annealing temperature. X -ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and transmi ssion electron diffraction (TED) techniques were used for their structural characterization. Formation of colloidal metal particles and the semiconduc tor clusters in the matrix have been confirmed by TEM, TED and spectrophoto metric measurements.