Real time observation of silver nanoparticle growth in ultrathin polymer films

Silver nanoparticles are formed in a polystyrene film by temperature induced dissociation of an organometallic precursor dispersed in the polymer. Further heating of the sample above the polymer boiling point allows control over the fill content of the silver particles. The process is recorded in real time by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The ellipsometric data is modeled using the Maxwell-Garnett effective medium approximation. Modeling the silver component using a Drude term with a modified electronic relaxation frequency allows the particle size to be inferred by scaling the relaxation frequency with microstructural observations of the particle dimensions. The particle size can subsequently be determined during the growth process from the final radius of 7.4 nm back to 2.3 nm, at which point quantum size effects limit the effectiveness of the model.