The structural effects on silver nanoparticles plasma edges in optical reflectance spectra of Ag/Ag2O composites synthesized by oxygen plasma treatment of silver thin films

Abstract In this work, we present the results of a unique study that aims to detect the structural effects on the plasma edges in optical reflectance spectra of Ag/Ag2O composites synthesized by treating silver thin films manufactured by thermal evaporation method with oxygen plasma afterglow. The results showed that, each of the optical reflectance spectra contains two plasma edges, the first (λI) belongs to the surface plasmons of the individual silver nanoparticles, and the second (λL) belongs to the larger silver nanoparticles. In addition, we found that the positions of the plasma edges are linearly related to the positions of the optical absorption peaks, except for high and low oxidation rates cases. On the other hand, taking into account previous work, we obtained indications that, the ratio NI/NL may be a measure of the film's effectiveness in inhibiting bacteria.