Thermal Penetration of Gold Nanoparticles into Silicon Dioxide

We report on an experimental study of the thermal annealing processes under air and nitrogen atmospheres of colloidal Au nanoparticles deposited onto SiO₂/Si(100) samples. It was shown that Au nanoparticles during annealing under ambient conditions could penetrate inside silicon dioxide layers forming pores at that their lengths were found to be dependent on the annealing time. The influence of oxygen on the penetration process is discussed. At the same time, the annealing of Au nanoparticles under nitrogen conditions did not result in the formation of pores.