The family of Sr1-xNb1-yO3+δ (SNO) metal oxides has attracted interest for their plasmonic and low-loss response making them promising materials for photovoltaic and photocatalytic devices. SNO metal oxides have been synthesized using modern thin-film technology but strain engineering is limited to film/substrate lattice mismatch and deposition pressure. To address this problem, SNO nanocrystals synthesized by bottom-up approaches allowing for direct control of the compositional, morphological, and external stresses are of interest. The current project proposes leveraging nanoparticle stoichiometry to investigate the plasmon resonance in a host nanocrystal (SrTiO3) that has been doped with Nb ions, Sr1-xTiyNb1-yO3+δ (STNO). In this work, STNO nanoparticles (&lt;100 nm) were synthesized via wet chemistry techniques such as co-precipitation and molten salt. Preliminary structural, optical, and electronic characterization results confirm the crystal structure, optical band gap, and oxidation states of STNO. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) was performed to probe the substitutional doping of Nb ions into the Ti-sites of the host lattice. The resultant stress on the STNO system due to the intercalation of the dopant into the host matrix is assessed from the local coordination environment of the dopant provided by extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). X-ray photoelectron and UV-vis spectroscopy affirm that the presence of Nb4+ provides enhancement in the plasmon resonance located at 688 nm. These initial results demonstrate the existence of plasmonics in low dimensional Nb-doped SrTiO3 nanoparticles with tunable light absorption which is beneficial for the design of next-generation photo-active devices.

Plasmon resonance in low dimensional Sr1-xTiyNb1-yO3+δ nanoparticles

256th National Meeting (2018)

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