Effect of the Ion Beam Current Density on the Formation of Implanted Metal Nanoparticles in a Dielectric Matrix

The effect of the ion beam current density, varied within 4–15 microA/cm2, on the formation of metal nanoparticles in a subsurface layer of SiO2 substrates implanted with 30-keV Ag+ ions to a dose of 5x10e16 cm–2 was studied by optical spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy techniques. An increase in the ion beam current density leads to the formation of nanoparticles of a greater size as a result of the glass substrate heating and due to an increase in the diffusion mobility of implanted silver atoms. These results suggest the possibility of controlling the dimensions of implanted nanoparticles in dielectrics by means of variation of the ion beam current density during the process.