Real time spectroscopic ellipsometry of nanoparticle growth

摘要

The use of real time spectroscopic ellipsometry to study silver nanoparticle formation in a polystyrene matrix by temperature induced reduction of silver hexafluoroacetylacetonate is reported. The optical properties of the composite are modeled using Mie theory with a modified electron relaxation frequency in silver to account for particle size effects. By measuring the final particle sizes from electron microscopy, the size of the particles during growth can be inferred above a radius of 2.3 nm. Below this radius the model is limited by quantum effects.