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Gold-coated iron nanoparticles in transparent Si3N4 matrix thin films

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Abstract

A new method to prepare thin films containing gold-coated iron nanoparticles is presented. The ternary Fe–Au–Si3N4 system prepared by sequential sputtering has revealed a progressive variation of microstructures from Au/Fe/Au/Si3N4 multilayers to iron nanoparticles. Microstructural characterization by transmission electron microscopy, analysis of the magnetic properties and probing of the iron short-range order by X-ray absorption spectroscopy confirm the existence of a gold-coated iron nanoparticles of 1–2 nm typical size for a specific range of iron and gold contents per layer in the transparent silicon nitride ceramic matrix.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Spanish MICINN under contracts MAT2009-08786 and CSD2009-00013 and by regional government of Madrid though contract S2009/MAT-1756. We would like to thank the SpLine CRG beamline staff at ESRF and to the CMAM staff for assistance during XAS and RBS experiments, respectively.

Author information

Author notes

  1. E. Céspedes

    Present address: Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine, Guy Hilton Research Centre, Keele University, Thornburrow Drive, Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4-7QB, UK

  2. F. Jiménez-Villacorta

    Present address: Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    J. Sánchez-Marcos, E. Céspedes, F. Jiménez-Villacorta & C. Prieto

  2. Dept. Química-Física Aplicada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    J. Sánchez-Marcos

  3. SpLine Spanish CRG Beamline, European Synchrotron Radiation Facilities, ESRF, BP 220, 38043, Grenoble Cedex, France

    F. Jiménez-Villacorta

  4. Centro de Microanálisis de Materiales, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    A. Muñoz-Martín

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  1. J. Sánchez-Marcos
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Correspondence to C. Prieto.

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Sánchez-Marcos, J., Céspedes, E., Jiménez-Villacorta, F. et al. Gold-coated iron nanoparticles in transparent Si3N4 matrix thin films. J Nanopart Res 15, 1714 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-1714-2

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