Immersion of low-energy deposited metal clusters into poly(methyl methacrylate)

Immersion of size-selected metal clusters deposited on thin poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films is studied. Clusters are produced by magnetron sputtering and soft-landed on the polymer substrates. It is found that thermal annealing at temperatures above the polymer glass transition point facilitates embedment of the deposited nanoparticles (NPs) into PMMA. The immersion degree can be controlled by the annealing time. Together with the control of cluster coverage by tuning the deposition time, the described approach represents an efficient method for the formation of thin polymer composite layers with embedded size-selected metal NPs. In the case of silver, the composite films demonstrate excellent plasmonic properties. However, the thermal annealing is found to quench the plasmon resonance of copper NPs. It is suggested that oxidation under elevated temperatures is the most probable mechanism destroying the plasmonic properties of the copper NPs. A simple treatment method by ozone is proposed to form an oxide shell around the metal core, thus, protecting the core against environmental factors causing degradation of the plasmonic properties.