Morphological and compositional mapping of supersaturated AuNi alloy nanoparticles fabricated by solid state dewetting

Abstract The solid state dewetting (SSD) of metallic bilayers is a straightforward method for the fabrication of alloy nanoparticles. In particular, alloys that present a gap of miscibility offer a rich phenomenology regarding not only the particle formation but also the composition of their phases. In the present work, AuNi precursor bilayers have been annealed at different temperatures and times to produce AuNi alloy nanoparticles. The evolution of the shape, size, and interparticle distance as well as the composition of the different phases formed in the nanoparticles, allow to unravel the role of the annealing temperatures and times for the fabrication of AuNi supersaturated alloys. Furthermore, the results offer a morphological and compositional map for the fabrication of AuNi alloys nanoparticles of different shapes, sizes, and compositions. Therefore, this map is a useful tool for the tailored design of supersaturated or decomposed nanoparticles by SSD.