Gold nanostructure formation in the photonic crystal matrix by means of MOCVD technique

The matrix of a photonic crystal was deposited with gold nanoparticles and thin films using MOCVD technique. Nanoparticles were obtained in a pulse pressure MOCVD reactor; Me2Au(thd) (thd = 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato) was used as a precursor. The deposition of thin gold coating was carried out in a stagnant-flow MOCVD reactor, Me2Au(OAc) (OAc = acetate) was used as a precursor. It was demonstrated that deposition conditions affect the morphology of nanoparticles deposited from Me2Au(thd). An increase in the evaporator temperature was found to cause an increase in the concentration of gold nanoparticles on the surface of SiO2 microspheres, whereas their size is almost unchanged. Increasing the deposition temperature results in an increase in the size of the nanoparticles. Using the system of gold nanoparticles - fluorescein, we demonstrated that luminescence is enhanced by a factor of 2 as compared to the pure dye. We performed the deposition of thin gold films onto SiO2 microspheres and demonstrated that the thickness of gold coating is affected by the deposition temperature. Optical characteristics inherent in photonic crystals formed from gold microspheres were studied. The amount of impurities in the films is less than 3%. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.