Surface smoothening and compaction of silica glass under dynamic negative ion mixing

A dynamic mixing method has been developed to fabricate thick insulator fil ms containing metal nanoparticles. The fabrication process consists of nega tive ion mixing/implantation and vacuum deposition of the matrix material. Negative Cu ions of 60 keV irradiated a silica substrate at a dose rate 5-3 0 muA/cm(2) and a simultaneous evaporation of silica glass, at an evaporati on rate 0.2-0.4 nm/s, produced thick films up to 500 nm. The surface of the samples was greatly smoothened by the dynamic negative-ion mixing (DNIM) m ethod, as compared to that of evaporated films without ion irradiation. The frequency of the Si-O-Si stretching vibration mode of the DNIM samples bec ame smaller than that of the silica glass substrates, Optical absorbance of the samples, particularly around Cu plasmon resonance, was significantly d ependent on the Cu dose rate. The results indicate that the ion co-irradiat ion induces not only surface smoothening but also a compact network of the SiO2 matrix, (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.