In this paper,we present the results of our investigation of producing nanoclusters of gold in silica at fluences of two orders of magnitude less than what is traditionally used This is accomplished by implanting 2.0 MeV Au into silica followed by MeV bombarment by MeV Si ions.The size of the nanoclusters,ranging from one to 10 nanometers,is controlled by the implantation dose and by the total electronic energy deposited by each post bombarding ion in the implanted layer.By both indirect measurement methods,such as optical absorption spectrophotometry (non-destructive),and direct methods,such as transmission electron microscopy (destructive) we show how and at what concentrations gold nucleates to form nanoparticles by radiation-enhanced nucleation at a dose below that needed for spontaneous nanoparticle formation.
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