Magnetic and optical properties of nanoparticles

Author(s)

Guilherme Gorgen Lesseux

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin
• Defense date: 2013-06-05

Examining board members

Carlos Rettori; Airton Abrahão Martin; Varlei Rodrigues

• Advisor: Pascoal José Giglio Pagliuso; Carlos Rettori

Abstract

Nanostructured compounds have attracted growing attention from the technological point of view due to numerous possibilities in terms of application in several areas. Besides, the large surface/volume atoms ratio and the reduced dimensionality of these nanocompounds raised new fundamental physical issues. Therefore, a detailed and systematic scientific study regarding these phenomena is crucial for the sake of nanoscience and nanotechnology development. In this dissertation, we thoroughly investigated the magnetic properties of three different types of nanoparticles (NPs): i) Au NPs assisted by oxides R2O3 (R = Er and Y) which present unexpected ferromagnetic properties; ii) diluted magnetic Er3+ impurities in Ag and Au NPs, which allow Electron Spin Resonance to study several microscopic local physical properties and, finally, iii) single and co-doped Yb3+, Er3+ and Tm3+ NaYF4 NPs that allowed to verify the up-conversion phenomena in these NPs. After adapting and improving already established methods reported in the literature, [1_3] we developed a novel chemical route to obtain Au-NPs with enhanced ferromagnetic properties by oxide incorporation. Based on the saturation magnetization at 2 K and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), we estimated an effective magnetic moment of µeff ¿ 0.2 µB per Au atom on the surface of the NPs. Besides the typical magnetometric characterization, we also carried out X-band ESR experiments. An intense ESR line was observed in the range of 4.2K = T = 370K with an integrated signal intensity which is almost constant in the entire T-range. Based on our results, the observed ESR signal is attributed to a ferromagnetic resonance (FMR). These results are discussed in terms of bonds between the NP-capping ligands and the Au atoms, which give rise to an effective hybridization between the 5d-6s electrons at the surface of the AuNPs. This hybridization might be the responsible mechanism for the Au 5d shell to become magnetic due to uncompensated spins in the 5d orbitals. The metallic Er3+ doped Ag and Au NPs were obtained by a slightly modified method used to get the ferromagnetic Au -NPs. The ESR g-values and observed hyperfine splitting indicate a cubic symmetry for the Er3+ ions in the Ag and Au NPs. Furthermore, we observed no g-shift and Korringa relaxation due to the exchange interaction between the magnetic rare-earth impurities and the conduction electron spins. This fact suggests that such an exchange interaction is negligible in metallic NPs. Finally, the Er3+, Yb3+ and Tm3+ doped NaYF4 NPs were obtained by a method already established in the literature. [4, 5] The incorporation of the Er3+ and Yb3+ ions as well as their oxidation state and concentration were confirmed by T-dependent magnetization and ESR measurements. For the co-doped NaYF4 NPs, we observed by naked eye the expected green and blue emitted lights of Yb/Er and Yb/Tm, respectively, due to a phenomenon known as upconversion (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 10/13473-6 - Study of nanostructured model sistems (Synthesis, characterization and manipulation)
• Grantee: Guilherme Gorgen Lesseux
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master