Electron Beam-Induced Reduction of Silver on TiO₂ Film

A broad, low-energy electron beam extracted from a multi-cusp plasma source through a pair of mesh electrodes produced metallic silver (Ag) from the Ag compound prepared on the surface of titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films. The TiO2 films were grown by thermal oxidation of magnetron-sputtered titanium (Ti) films. The reduced metallic Ag formed the Ag-TiO2 heterostructure. The reduction of the Ag compound was investigated by varying the operating pressure and the electron beam exposure time. The electron energy distribution function was measured using a retarding potential analyzer, while the electron current density measurements were obtained by collecting the electrons passing through the aperture of a shielded Faraday cup. Characterization of the synthesized heterostructure was performed using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy to check the chemical structure and composition, UV-Vis spectroscopy and 4-point probe to investigate the optoelectronic properties, and electron microscopy to observe the surface morphology of the films. The electron beam characteristics were correlated with the structure and properties of the synthesized Ag-TiO2 heterostructure.