Study of the local structure of Cu-nanocrystalline implanted by MEVVA into SiO2

Metal nanocrystals in silica glass were produced by ion implantation (Cu+) using metal vapor vacuum arc (MEVVA) ion source. The local structures of three different samples containing ion doses of 1.2/1.6/2.0 × 1017 ions/cm2 have been investigated at the Cu k edge, with extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS). Microstructures of the nanoparticle were determined by EXAFS data analysis. The dependence of ion dose on the coordination number with reference to the bulk material was studied. The bondlength of the nearest CuCu bond in the ion-implanted samples shows a slight contraction.