| The electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of silver nanoparticles suspended in organic media onto geometrically and compositionally controlled substrates has been investigated. A dispersion of 0.01 weight% of silver nanoparticles (ultrapure, 99.99%) in ethylene glycol has been employed for the deposition experiments. Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry and dynamic light scattering techniques have been utilized to provide stability, zeta potential, and particle distribution data, for the EPD medium. The parameters used to facilitate deposition using this formulation have been optimized, and were applied to the processing of silver thin films.;The degree of selectivity attainable via the EPD of nanoparticles onto various substrates has been documented. Investigations detail the electrophoretic deposition of nanoparticles onto cleaned, and etched, n-Si (111) substrates, magnetron sputtered Si-Ag nanocomposite substrates, and photolithographically patterned substrates. Thin films processed via the EPD of materials onto these substrates were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray microscopy (EDS), and Kelvin force microscopy (KFM), as well as surface profilometry. Fabricated thin films demonstrate selectivity within a narrow range of EPD parameters. Films deposited using the photolithographically patterned substrates exhibited the highest degree of preferential deposition among the specimen surveyed in this thesis. Results of the investigations documented in this study reveal that KFM is a superior tool for the characterization of nanostructured surfaces produced by nanocomposite fabrication. |
