Low-temperature Raman spectroscopy of copper and silver nanoparticles ion-synthesized in a silica glass and subjected to laser annealing

The modification of the shape of ion-synthesized silver and copper nanoparticles in a silica glass during laser annealing has been studied for the first time by Raman spectroscopy at a temperature of 77 K. The laser annealing has been carried out for a wavelength of 694 nm at the edge of the plasmon absorption spectrum of nanoparticles. A comparison of the experimental spectra and the calculated modes of in-phase bending vibrations of the “harmonica” type in nanostrings of the corresponding metals has demonstrated their good agreement. The effects observed have been discussed from the standpoint of the size quantization of vibrations in metal nanowires. This methodical approach has made it possible to estimate the sizes of the Ag and Cu nanoparticles under the assumption that they have an elongated form; in this case, their average lengths are equal to 2.5 and 1.4 nm, respectively.