Simulation of conditions for fabrication of optical nanowaveguides in the form of chains of spherical metal nanoparticles by electrostatic functionalization of the process substrate

摘要

A method is proposed for electrostatic functionalization of substrates used to prepare ordered structures composed of closely spaced plasmon-resonant nanoparticles. The method ensures selective deposition of nanoparticles from the bulk of a colloidal system onto the substrates. This method is based on placing a metal nanotemplate of a required configuration at the opposite side of a substrate, with an electric potential being applied to the template. A mathematical model is developed to ensure that the system parameters responsible for the deposition of metal nanoparticles into ordered single-domain structures on the substrate from a bulk sol in a nonuniform electric field generated by the nanotemplate correspond to the real experimental conditions. Since the degree of imperfection of the synthesized chains governs the applicability of these structures to transmission of the optical excitation at the frequency of the surface plasmon of the particles, the dependence of the degree of imperfection on the physicochemical and electrical parameters of the system is studied using the Brownian-dynamics model. The calculations of the spectral and transmission properties of nanowaveguides of this type are exemplified.