title: Real-time evolution of the distribution of nanoparticles in an ultrathin-polymer-film-based waveguide.
abstract: We report a novel application of an ultrathin-polymer-film-based, resonance-enhanced x-ray waveguide as a real-time nanoprobe for elucidating dilute, yet disordered, gold nanoparticles embedded in the polymer matrix. This nanoprobe promises a sensitivity enhancement of several orders of magnitude, hence revealing in real time the lateral nanoparticle distribution with subnanometer spatial resolution. We observed that the motion of the nanoparticles is strongly anisotropic, with in-plane coalescence taking place more rapidly than out-of-plane diffusion, which can ultimately facilitate the formation of two-dimensional structures.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA.
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Narayanan
authors.forename: Dong Ryeol
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Rodney S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Guico
authors.forename: Sunil K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang