The Effect of Nanoparticle Size on the Properties of Selectively Transparent and Conductive Photonic Crystals (STCPCs)

Selectively transparent and conducting photonic crystals (STCPCs), a recently proposed new class of photonic crystals, are comprised of alternating layers of nanoparticles and transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films. This thesis explores how the properties of STCPCs vary with respect to the nanoparticle size. STCPCs with different TCO layers (ZnO:Al and ITO) were fabricated and it was found that the sheet resistivity dropped for ITO based STCPCs from 15.1 ohms/sq to 13.5 ohms/sq as the nanoparticle diameter (6 nm, 8 nm, 12 nm, and 20 nm) decreased while the optical properties changed minimally. When single ITO films were deposited on nanoparticle films, it was found that the sheet resistance increased with nanoparticle size. Using TOF-SIMS, the diffusion of ITO into the nanoparticle films was observed irrespective of the order of film deposition. Further, it was found that Na+ from the nanoparticle solutions diffuses towards the interfaces between the different layers.M.A.S.2017-06-13 00:00:0