Thermal Stabilization of Geometric Parameters of a Silver Nanoparticles Array Obtained by Vacuum-Thermal Evaporation on Unheated Substrate
During formation of silver nanoparticles arrays by condensation to the cold substrate the initial condensate is non-stable. For the formation of non-stable arrays with the form, close to a spherical one, subsequent weak thermal treatment is required. The nanosize state for many substances significantly differs from the mass state. In the work the behavior of the silver nanoparticle array during low-temperature annealing has been shown. Using the atomic-force microscopy the evolution of the silver nanoparticles array, formed on the SiO<sub>2</sub> by the vacuum-thermal evaporation the unheated substrate during in-situ heating up to 200 °C, has been investigated. The qualitative estimate of the temperature influence on the geometry of the nanoparticles arrays has been obtained. It has been experimentally shown that a sharp enlargement of silver nanoparticles and decreasing of their quantity on the surface occurs in a small temperature of (75-100 °C). After statistical processing of the obtained data the average sizes of the formed particles and their density per unit area at each stage of the experiment have been determined and the corresponding dependences have been obtained.