Structure and properties of silver nanoparticles dispersed in SiO2 thin films obtained by in situ self-reduction

Recently, silver nanoparticles (10–15 nm) embedded into silica thin films have been obtained in our laboratory by in situ reduction of a suitable silver organometallic compound (precursor) dissolved in a spin-on-glass (SOG) solution and subsequently span onto a substrate. Here, we present a study of the spatial distribution of these nanoparticles as a function of deposition and post-deposition parameters by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). We find that the distribution of the Ag particles is strongly dependent on the aging of the precursor–polymer blend obtained after the spin coating procedure, giving a uniform spatial distribution only with thermal annealing performed after several hours from the organometallic–polymer blend deposition.