Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Monte Carlo simulation of secondary electron images for gold nanorods on the silicon substrate

  • Published:
Pramana Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recently, gold nanorods (Au NRs) have attracted much attention because at a particular photoelectricity the gold nanorods present a characteristic which is different from other types of Au nanomaterials with various shapes. Accurate measurement of aspect ratios does provide very high value of optical property for Au NRs. Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is thought of as the most accurate tool to perform size measurement through extracting structure parameters from the simulated scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image which best matches the experimental one. In this article, a series of MC-simulated secondary electron (SE) images have been taken for Au NRs on a silicon substrate. However, it has already been observed that the two ends of Au NRs in the experimental SEM image is brighter than that of the middle part. It seriously affects the accuracy of size measurement for Au NRs. The purpose of this work is to understand the mechanism underlying this phenomenon through a series of systematical analysis. It was found that the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) which covers the Au NRs indeed can alter the contrast of Au NRs compared to that without CTAB covering. However, SEs emitting from CTAB are not the reason for the abnormal brightness at the two ends of NRs. This work reveals that the charging effect might be the leading cause for this phenomenon.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. J B Baxter et al, Nanotechnol. 17, 304 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. J Pérez-Juste et al, Coord. Chem. Rev. 249, 1870 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. M Riazian, Pramana – J. Phys. 78, 319 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. L Feng et al, Chem. Eur. J. 14, 9764 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Z J Ding and R Shimizu,Scanning 18, 92 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. A G Xie, S Y Xiao and L Wang, Pramana – J. Phys. 86, 1127 (2016)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. V C Petwal et al, Pramana – J. Phys. 74, 457 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. P Zhang et al, Scanning 34, 145 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. P Zhang, S Mao and Z J Ding, Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 69, 30703-p1 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Y G Li, P Zhang and Z J Ding, Scanning 35, 127 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. T Prill and K Schladitz, Scanning 35, 189 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. J R Lowney, Scanning 17, 281 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Z M Zhang and Z J Ding, SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing 8729, 87290 K (2013)

  14. J S Villarrubia, A E Vladár and M T Postek, Surf. Interface Anal. 37, 951 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. N F Mott, Proc. R. Soc. London 124, 425 (1929)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. R A Bonham and T G Strand, J. Chem. Phys. 39, 2200 (1963)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. D R Penn, Phys. Rev. B 35, 482 (1987)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. O S Heavens, J. Mod. Opt. 39, 189 (1991)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. C Geuzaine and J F Remacle, Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng. 79, 1309 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Y Xiang et al, Langmuir 24, 3465 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. D C Joy, Scanning 17, 270 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. M I Sanchez, SPIE Advanced Lithography (2016).

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the support from 2016 Wuhan government doctoral funding programme and the start-up research funding of Yangtze Normal University (No. 2017KYQD113).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electronic Information Engineering, Yangtze Normal University, Chongqing , 408003, People’s Republic of China

    P Zhang

Authors
  1. P Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P Zhang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, P. Monte Carlo simulation of secondary electron images for gold nanorods on the silicon substrate. Pramana - J Phys 90, 81 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12043-018-1572-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12043-018-1572-7

Keywords

PACS Nos

Search

Navigation