Characterizing structural and vibrational properties of nanoparticles embedded in silica with XAS, SAXS and auxiliary techniques

Synchrotron-based techniques were combined with conventional analysis methods to probe in detail the structural and vibrational properties of nanoparticles grown in a silica matrix by ion implantation and thermal annealing, as well as the evolution of such properties as a function of nanoparticle size. This original approach was successfully applied for several elemental nanoparticles (Au, Co, Cu, Ge, Pt) and the outcomes for Ge are reported here, illustrating the power of this combined methodology. The thorough analysis of XANES, EXAFS, SAXS, TEM and Raman data for Ge nanoparticles with mean diameters between 4 and 9 nm revealed that the peculiar properties of embedded Ge nanoparticles, like the existence of amorphous Ge layers between the silica matrix and the crystalline nanoparticle core, are strongly dependent on particle size and mainly governed by the variation in the surface area-to-volume ratio. Such detailed information provides valuable input for the efficient planning of technological applications.