Comparison of XPS spectra of Ag3d for silver nanostructures and bulk material

Ag nanostructures were prepared on borosilicate glass (Corning 1737F) and Si substrates. In both cases, the substrateswere cleaned with acetylacetone and then rinsed in ethanol. Thin Ag films (2 and 6 nm thickness) were deposited using a tabletop dc magnetron sputtering coater (EM SCD 500, Leica) in pure Ar plasma (argon, Air Products 99.999%). The Ag targetwas of 99.99% purity, the rate of layer deposition was about 0.4 nm·s−1 , and the incident power was in the range of 30–40 W. The layer thickness was measured in situ using a quartz crystal microbalance. To form nanostructures, the as-prepared films were put into a hot furnace and annealed in argon atmosphere at different temperatures for different periods of time. Nanostructures were measured by XPS method. Additionally a bulk silver was measured.