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Effects of visible and synchrotron x-ray radiation on the growth of silver nanoplates on n-GaAs wafers: A comparative study

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2924766· OSTI ID:21102018
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)
  2. National Synchrotron Light Source II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973 (United States)
A simple and effective approach has been developed to grow silver (Ag) nanoplates on n-type gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafers through a reaction between the wafers themselves and aqueous solutions of silver nitrate at room temperature [Sun and Wiederrecht, Small 3, 1964 (2007)]. In this letter, the effect of green laser irradiation, which can efficiently excite the valence band of a GaAs substrate to form electron-hole pairs in the shallow surface region (<3 {mu}m), on the growth of Ag nanoplates is studied. Illumination with the laser significantly depresses the growth of Ag nanoplates. In comparison, the influence of synchrotron x-rays, which can excite the deep core levels of elements and deeply penetrate (>50 {mu}m) into GaAs lattices, on the growth of Ag nanoplates is also studied. The results indicate that the excited deep core levels can relax into electron-hole pairs in the band edges to induce similar effects to that of the green laser except that the larger area around the x-ray beam is affected to inhibit the growth of Ag nanoplates.
OSTI ID:
21102018
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 18 Vol. 92; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English