Modes of silver nanoisland film growth on the surface of ion- exchanged glass

The behavior of silver nanoisland film growth on the surface of ion-exchanged glasses processed in the air and in hydrogen atmosphere is compared. The films grown in air degrade with the increase of processing time because of oxidizing. The growth of the film in hydrogen atmosphere tends to saturate with time due to the decrease in the flow of atomic silver towards the glass surface. This is because of the formation and growth of silver nanoparticles in the bulk of the glass, these nanoparticles being the preferable sink for silver atoms.