High-energy Cu and O ion co-implantation into silica glasses

Optical and structural changes of silica glass substrates implanted with Cu and O ions and subjected to thermal annealing, are examined as a function of the implantation sequence by optical absorption, Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) and thin film X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. Before annealing, the distribution of Cu is affected by the implantation sequence and O- followed by Cu-implantation leads to fewer Cu nanoparticles than the Cu- followed by O ion implantation. After annealing, however, the redistribution behavior of Cu and optical absorption features are similar for both co-implanted samples. Nanocrystals of Cu2O are mainly formed by annealing and the absorption peaks at about 340, 450 and 480 nm are observed for the co-implanted samples. The peaks are possibly evidence for the presence of the copper oxide nanocrystals. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.