Lyra 1 xmu system

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was conducted using a LYRA I XMU system (Tescan, Brno, Czech Republic) to study the samples’ morphology. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) images were taken by a JEOL JEM 2100 system (Akishima-Shi, Tokyo) to reveal the samples’ microstructure and crystallinity. Some of the samples for TEM analyses were prepared by scratching the sample surface in a drop of distilled water and transferring a small quantity of the material to a Cu grid. Samples for TEM analyses were also prepared using a direct deposition on the TEM Cu grid in the case of ablation of a Au target in order to compare the obtained experimental results with the theoretical ones. In this case, the depositions were performed for a shorter deposition time (1 min) in order to prevent nanoparticles overlapping. X-ray diffraction (XRD) using an Empyrean diffractometer (PANalytical, Malvern, UK) was used to examine the samples’ crystalline structure and phase composition. The chemical composition of the samples’ surface was examined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) on an AXIS Supra electron spectrometer (Kratos Analytical Ltd., Manchester, UK).

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was conducted using a LYRA I XMU system (Tescan, Brno, Czech Republic) to study the samples’ morphology. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) images were taken by a JEOL JEM 2100 system (Akishima-Shi, Tokyo) to reveal the samples’ microstructure and crystallinity. Some of the samples for TEM analyses were prepared by scratching the sample surface in a drop of distilled water and transferring a small quantity of the material to a Cu grid. Samples for TEM analyses were also prepared using a direct deposition on the TEM Cu grid in the case of ablation of a Au target in order to compare the obtained experimental results with the theoretical ones. In this case, the depositions were performed for a shorter deposition time (1 min) in order to prevent nanoparticles overlapping. X-ray diffraction (XRD) using an Empyrean diffractometer (PANalytical, Malvern, UK) was used to examine the samples’ crystalline structure and phase composition. The chemical composition of the samples’ surface was examined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) on an AXIS Supra electron spectrometer (Kratos Analytical Ltd., Manchester, UK).