Synthesis of Plasmonic Photonic Crystal SiO2–Ag Nanostructures by Ion Beam Deposition of Silver Clusters onto Silica Microspheres

The synthesis of plasmonic photonic crystal SiO2–Ag nanostructures by deposition of silver nanoparticles is considered. The technique includes the physical sputtering of a silver target with a kiloelectronvolt argon ion beam onto silica microspheres obtained according to Stober. The plasmon resonance effect is shown to be interrelated with the optical properties of nanostructured supports and the morphology of aggregate structures of silver nanoparticles (clusters).