Transition metal oxides in etched ion tracks: Surface morphological studies

Transition metal oxide (TMO) nanoparticles comprising of different magnetic properties, have been inserted in ion tracks which have been created by swift heavy ion bombardment of the SiO2/Si substrate and further etched by hydrofluoric acid. To study the surface morphology of the system, pore structure (diameter, shape, size and depth), pore volume and surface area before and after filling of TMOs, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) techniques have been used. These TMO filled structures have been subjected to perpendicular magnetic field to study the alignment of the metal oxide particles. In this paper, the surface morphology of TMO based nanostructures is being reported corroborating the findings with vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies.