Metallic Films: From Nanofabrication and Nanostructuration to Characterizations and Applications

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2018) | Viewed by 28419

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Metallic films are key components in many of modern technologies, from integrated circuits to sensors. In particular, nanostructured metal (Au, Ag, Pd, Pt, Ni, Co, Fe, etc.) films find applications in the production of innovative devices and coatings. These technologies, however, require exploitation of the electronic, magnetic, optical, mechanical, and thermal properties unique to metallic materials. Thus, it is of paramount importance to control the films of nanoscale structures, as a result of the fabrication or post-fabrication processes, to tailor their properties.

When metallic films thickness decreases, the physical properties of the films change so that, in thin films, new physical properties appear, which are not present in the corresponding bulk materials. A typical example of this is metallic film resistivity, which increases drastically, decreasing film thickness. However, several other metallic films properties can be largely tuned by thickness and nanostructure control, from mechanical ones to optical ones. In addition, recently, great interest has been given to the plasmonic properties of thin nanostructured and nano-patterned metallic films, in the fabrication of high-sensitivity optical sensors (exploiting, for example, Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering). In this sense, the development of low-cost, versatile, simple and high-throughput nanofabrication and nano-patterning approaches for metallic thin films gained a key role in the production of real devices.

This Special Issue of Metals aims at collecting a compilation of review articles and original research papers illustrating: a) the latest developments in nanofabrication and nano-patterning of thin metallic films; b) the development of new 1D, 2D, and 3D metallic nano-architectures for specific applications; c) the use of advanced state-of-art characterization methods for the understanding of full metallic films and nano-architectures properties; d) exploitation of the physico-chemical properties of nanostructured metallic films in the fabrication of devices (from electronics to sensors).

In this sense, papers covering up-to-date theoretical and experimental concepts, from the elucidation of basic mechanisms involved in fabrication processes to those involved in the exploitation of the properties for forefront applications, are expected. Thus, the topics cover multidisciplinary research fields, including nanomaterials, biotechnology, nanofabrication, and sensors.

Dr. Francesco Ruffino
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Nanostructured Metallic Films
  • Novel Metallic Nanoarchitectures
  • Nanofabrication
  • Nano-patterning
  • Nanostructured devices
  • Nanoelectronics
  • Composite metallic films
  • Plasmonics
  • Biosensing
  • Electronic transport

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 150 KiB  
Editorial
Metallic Films: From Nanofabrication and Nanostructuration to Characterizations and Applications
by Francesco Ruffino
Metals 2018, 8(12), 1018; https://doi.org/10.3390/met8121018 - 4 Dec 2018
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2151
Abstract
Metallic films are key components in many modern technologies, from integrated circuits to sensors. [...] Full article

Research

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8 pages, 1639 KiB  
Article
Theoretical Study of Electromagnetic Interference Shielding of 2D MXenes Films
by Zhenyu Li, Zeyu Wang, Weixin Lu and Bo Hou
Metals 2018, 8(8), 652; https://doi.org/10.3390/met8080652 - 20 Aug 2018
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 6103
Abstract
The advance of research on 2D transition metal carbides, carbonitrides, and nitrides (collectively known as MXenes) has progressed rapidly since the introduction of Ti3C2 in 2011. Nowadays the number of MXene synthesized in lab has reached more than 20, while [...] Read more.
The advance of research on 2D transition metal carbides, carbonitrides, and nitrides (collectively known as MXenes) has progressed rapidly since the introduction of Ti3C2 in 2011. Nowadays the number of MXene synthesized in lab has reached more than 20, while there are currently about 20 theoretically predicted structures. In this study, we calculate the electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of a series of MXene films in theory and find that the results are in good agreement with the measured data. From this, we can use this method to calculate electromagnetic properties of all kinds of 2D material films which are similar to Mxenes. Full article
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14010 KiB  
Article
Evolution of Ternary AuAgPd Nanoparticles by the Control of Temperature, Thickness, and Tri-Layer
by Sundar Kunwar, Puran Pandey, Mao Sui, Sushil Bastola and Jihoon Lee
Metals 2017, 7(11), 472; https://doi.org/10.3390/met7110472 - 4 Nov 2017
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5422
Abstract
Metallic alloy nanoparticles (NPs) possess great potential to enhance the optical, electronic, chemical, and magnetic properties for various applications by the control of morphology and elemental composition. This work presents the fabrication of ternary AuAgPd alloy nanostructures on sapphire (0001) via the solid-state [...] Read more.
Metallic alloy nanoparticles (NPs) possess great potential to enhance the optical, electronic, chemical, and magnetic properties for various applications by the control of morphology and elemental composition. This work presents the fabrication of ternary AuAgPd alloy nanostructures on sapphire (0001) via the solid-state dewetting of sputter-deposited tri-metallic layers. Based on the systematic control of temperature, thickness, and deposition order of tri-layers, the composite AuAgPd alloy nanoparticles (NPs) with various shape, size, and density are demonstrated. The metallic tri-layers exhibit various stages of dewetting based on the increasing growth temperatures between 400 and 900 °C at 15 nm tri-layer film thickness. Specifically, the nucleation of tiny voids and hillocks, void coalescence, the growth and isolated nanoparticle formation, and the shape transformation with Ag sublimation are observed. With the reduced film thickness (6 nm), tiny alloy NPs with improved structural uniformity and spatial arrangement are obtained due to enhanced dewetting. The growth trend of alloy NPs is drastically altered by changing the deposition order of metallic tri-layers. The overall evolution is governed by the surface diffusion and inter-mixing of metallic atoms, Rayleigh-like instability, surface and interface energy minimization, and equilibrium state of the system. The UV-VIS-NIR reflectance spectra reveal the formation of an absorption band and reflectance maxima at specific wavelengths based on the morphology and composition of AuAgPd alloy NPs. In addition, Raman spectra analysis shows the modulation of intensity and peak position of natural vibration modes of sapphire (0001). Full article
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12219 KiB  
Article
Experimental Analysis on the Molten-Phase Dewetting Characteristics of AuPd Alloy Films on Topographically-Structured Substrates
by Francesco Ruffino
Metals 2017, 7(9), 327; https://doi.org/10.3390/met7090327 - 25 Aug 2017
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4775
Abstract
AuPd nanoparticles are formed on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) by a nanosecond laser irradiation-induced dewetting process of deposited AuPd films. In particular, we analyze the effect of the surface topography of the substrate on the dewetting process and, so, on the final mean [...] Read more.
AuPd nanoparticles are formed on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) by a nanosecond laser irradiation-induced dewetting process of deposited AuPd films. In particular, we analyze the effect of the surface topography of the substrate on the dewetting process and, so, on the final mean size of the formed nanoparticles. In fact, we used two supporting FTO substrates differing in the surface topography: we used a FTO layer which is un-intentionally patterned since it is formed by FTO pyramids randomly distributed on the glass slide as result of the deposition process of the same FTO layer, namely substrate A. We used, also, a further FTO substrate, namely substrate B, presenting, as a result of a chemical etching process, a higher roughness and higher mean distance between nearest-neighbor pyramids with respect to substrate A. The results concerning the size of the obtained AuPd NPs by the laser irradiations with the laser fluence fixed shows that the substrate topography impacts on the dewetting process. In particular, we found that below a critical thickness of the deposited AuPd film, the NPs formed on substrates A and B have similar size and a similar trend for the evolution of their size versus the film thickness (i.e., the dewetting process is not influenced by the substrate topography since the film does not interact with the substrate topography). On the other hand, however, above a critical thickness of the deposited AuPd film, the AuPd NPs show a higher mean size (versus the film thickness) on substrate B than on substrate A, indicating that the AuPd film interacts with the substrate topography during the dewetting process. These results are quantified and discussed by the description of the substrate topography effect on the excess of chemical potential driving the dewetting process. Full article
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7120 KiB  
Article
Broadband Dual-Phase Plasmons through Metallization of Polymeric Heterojunctions
by Cuiying Huang and Xinping Zhang
Metals 2017, 7(8), 314; https://doi.org/10.3390/met7080314 - 16 Aug 2017
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4175
Abstract
Large-area dual-phase plasmonic gold nanostructures were produced using the phase-separation pattern of a polymer blend film, where two typical light-emitting polymeric semiconductors of poly (9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) and poly (9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-bis-N,N′-(4-butylphenyl)-bis-N,N′-phenyl-1,4 phenylenediamine) (PFB) [...] Read more.
Large-area dual-phase plasmonic gold nanostructures were produced using the phase-separation pattern of a polymer blend film, where two typical light-emitting polymeric semiconductors of poly (9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) and poly (9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-bis-N,N′-(4-butylphenyl)-bis-N,N′-phenyl-1,4 phenylenediamine) (PFB) have been employed to construct the heterojunction patterns. The laser-induced selective cross-linking of F8BT molecules and the subsequent rinsing process using the good solvent of chloroform for PFB supplies a stable template for a further metallization process. When colloidal gold nanoparticles were spin-coated onto the surface of the template, a majority of the gold nanoparticles were confined into the “holes” of originally PFB-rich phase, while a minor portion stays on the “ridges” of F8BT-rich phase. After the annealing process, larger gold nanoparticles were produced inside the holes and smaller ones on the ridges, which induced localized surface plasmon resonance in the near infrared and in the visible, respectively. The structural parameters of the gold plasmonic pattern can be tuned by different surface modification and annealing processes, which can tune the spectroscopic response in the spectral position and in the spectral intensity. The produced nanostructures with broadband plasmon resonance can be used as a template for random lasers with strong optical scattering at both the pump and emission wavelengths and for photovoltaic devices with strong absorption in the visible and near infrared. Full article
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Review

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18 pages, 6756 KiB  
Review
Atomistic Simulations to Predict Favored Glass-Formation Composition and Ion-Beam-Mixing of Nano-Multiple-Metal-Layers to Produce Ternary Amorphous Films
by M. H. Yang, J. H. Li, B. X. Liu and J. B. Liu
Metals 2018, 8(2), 129; https://doi.org/10.3390/met8020129 - 11 Feb 2018
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4451
Abstract
Based on the framework of long-range empirical formulas, the interatomic potentials were constructed for the Ni-Nb-Mo (fcc-bcc-bcc) and Ni-Zr-Mo (fcc-hcp-bcc) ternary metal systems. Applying the constructed potentials, atomistic simulations were performed [...] Read more.
Based on the framework of long-range empirical formulas, the interatomic potentials were constructed for the Ni-Nb-Mo (fcc-bcc-bcc) and Ni-Zr-Mo (fcc-hcp-bcc) ternary metal systems. Applying the constructed potentials, atomistic simulations were performed to predict the energetically favored glass formation regions (GFRs) in the respective composition triangles of the systems. In addition, the amorphization driving forces (ADFs), i.e., the energy differences between the solid solutions and disordered phases, were computed and appeared to correlate with the so-called glass forming abilities. To verify the atomistic prediction, ion beam mixing with nano-multiple-metal-layers was carried out to produce ternary amorphous films. The results showed that the composition of ternary amorphous films obtained by ion beam mixing all locate inside the GFRs, supporting the predictions of atomistic simulations. Interestingly, the minimum ion dosage required for amorphization showed a negative correlation with the calculated ADF, implying that the predicted amorphization driving force could be an indicator of the glass formation ability. Full article
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