Fabrication of photo-patterned microstructures in an organic–inorganic hybrid material incorporating silver nanoparticles

We report on the incorporation of Ag nanoparticles into a photo-patternable, sol–gel derived organic–inorganic hybrid material. This is achieved by dissolution of AgNO3 in the precursor sol, followed by irradiation with UV light and thermal treatment. The fabrication of photo-patterned microstructures with feature sizes down to 50 μm is demonstrated in this material. The results of transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction analysis are discussed. These results suggest that Ag nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed in the photo-patterned hybrid matrix, with size distribution analysis indicating that the majority of particles are less than 10 nm in diameter. The material exhibits a surface plasmon resonance in its UV–visible absorption spectrum, which may be ascribed to the presence of Ag nanoparticles.