Microstructure of 5keV gold-implanted polydimethylsiloxane

Received 28 May 2008; accepted 25 June 2008.

The first high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) cross-section images of flexible electrodes fabricated by gold ion implantation at 5keV into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) are presented. A TEM sample preparation method based on cryoultramicrotomy, adapted for extremely low-modulus (1MPa) elastomers, was developed, allowing the gold nanoparticles in a PDMS matrix to be imaged. The cluster size, size distribution and implantation depth of 50nm were determined from the images and used to calculate the Young’s modulus of the implanted layer.

Keywords: Metal ion implantation, EAP, PDMS, Elasticity of nanocomposites, Gold clusters

a Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Microsystems for Space Technologies Laboratory (LMTS), Rue Jaquet-Droz 1, Case Postale 526, CH-2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland

b Institute of Microtechnology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

Corresponding author. Tel.: + 41 327205182; fax: +41 327205754.

PII: S1359-6462(08)00486-7

doi:10.1016/j.scriptamat.2008.06.038

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