Back Cover: Ag fractals formed on top of a porous TiO2 thin film (Phys. Status Solidi RRL 7/2016). Issue 7 (July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Borges, J.; Rodrigues, M. S.; Lopes, C.; Costa, D.; Ferreira, A.; Pereira, R. M. S.; Costa, M. F.; Vasilevskiy, M. I.; Vaz, F.
• Is Part Of: Physica status solidi. Volume 10:Issue 7(2016)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2016-07
• Subjects: Solid state physics -- Periodicals; 530.4105
• DOI: 10.1002/pssr.201670743
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1862-6254

Abstract

Abstract : No abstract is available for this article. Abstract : The Letter by Borges et al. (pp.530–534 ) reports the formation of Ag fractal structures, formed on top of a previously deposited Ag:TiO 2 nanocomposite thin film, during its thermal annealing. The dendrite‐type structures are formed via diffusion‐limited aggregation (DLA) of Ag atoms, which are supplied to the surface via outward diffusion from the nanocomposite film, when the annealing temperature is raised up to 500 °C. These aggregates show good crystal structure and a potentially interesting optical response, spanning the whole visible range, presumably related to surface plasmon modes with a very broad spectral distribution owing to their fractal geometry. The formation of metallic DLA‐type fractal structures opens the possibility of using them in applications where the enhancement of local electromagnetic field is required, such as surface‐enhanced Raman scattering. Furthermore, the interaction between the porous metal oxide matrix and analyte molecules, through either chemical reaction or physical adsorption, can induce a significant change in the optical properties of the fractal structures which may be considered for optical surface‐plasmon‐resonance sensing in the detection of small concentrations of (bio‐)molecules.