Evolution of Ion Beam Synthesized Au Nanoclusters in SiO2 under Ion Irradiation

The evolution of the mean size and the size distribution of Au nanoclusters (NCs) under high-energy ion irradiation has been studied. Au NCs were synthesized in a 480 nm thick SiO2 layer by 330 keV Au+ implantation and subsequent annealing at T = 1000 °C for 1h in dry O2. XTEM images show a 70 nm thick layer of Au NCs, being centered at the projected ion range Rp(330keV) = 100 nm, having a mean NC size of 5 nm at Rp, and resembling the broad LSW size distribution of diffusion controlled Ostwald ripening. Post-irradiation of the Au NCs by 4.5 MeV gold ions were used in order to tailor their size and size distribution. The high-energy Au+ irradiation were performed at 190...210 °C with a fluence of (0.5...1.0)x1016 cm-2. By the post-irradiation no gold was deposited into the SiO2 layer, the Au+ ions come to rest in the (001)Si substrate at Rp(4.5MeV) = 1 mm. XTEM images of the post-irradiated Au NCs show a strong decrease of their mean size as well as the width of their size distribution. The observed NC evolution under ion irradiation agrees with recent theoretical predictions and kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations.