RESUMO
Gold has always fascinated humans, occupying an important functional and symbolic role in civilization. In earlier times, gold was predominantly used in jewelry; today, this noble metal's surface properties are taken advantage of in catalysis and plasmonics. In this article, the plasmon resonance of gold dumbbell nanorods is investigated. This unusual morphology was obtained by a seed-mediated growth method. The concentration of chemical precursors such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and silver nitrate plays a significant role in controlling the shape of the nanorods. Indeed, the aspect ratio of dumbbell nanostructures was varied from 2.6 to 4. UV-visible absorption spectra revealed a shift of the longitudinal surface plasmon resonance peak from 669 to 789 nm. Having the plasmon resonance in the near infrared region helps to use those nanostructures as photothermal agents.
RESUMO
Mesoporous silicon and porous silicon/Ni nanocomposites have been investigated in this work employing light-dark surface photovoltage (SPV) transients to monitor the response of surface charge dynamics to illumination changes. The samples were prepared by anodization of a highly n-doped silicon wafer and a subsequent electrodepositing of Ni into the pores. The resulting pores were oriented towards the surface with an average pore diameter of 60 nm and the thickness of the porous layer of approximately 40 µm. SPV was performed on a bare porous silicon as well as on a Ni-filled porous silicon in vacuum and in different gaseous environments (O2, N2, Ar). A significant difference was observed between the 'light-on' and 'light-off' SPV transients obtained in vacuum and those observed in gaseous ambiences. Such behavior could be explained by the contribution to the charge exchange in gas environments from chemisorbed and physisorbed species at the semiconductor surface. PACS: 81.05.Rm; 73.20.-r; 75.50.-y; 82.45.Yz.
