Physical Vapor-Deposited Silver (Ag)-Based Metal-Dielectric Nanocomposites for Thin-Film and Coating Applications

Metallic thin-film materials and nanoparticles (mainly silver (Ag)-based) are recently being used in many nano-technological applications, including sensors, reflective heat-mirror coatings, and antibacterial coatings. The physical vapor deposition technique has attracted significant attention for Ag-based nanocomposites with tailoring of the structural and optical properties of metallic thin films, thus allowing for further improvements and application possibilities in various existing fields, namely electronics, catalysis, magnetics, and optics, alongside the environment and health and new emergent fields, particularly thin-film coatings. This study highlights the preparation, characterization, properties, and possible future application directions of several types of silver (Ag)-based nanocomposite thin films prepared by using physical vapor deposition techniques. The high-temperature (above 300 °C) heat-treated composite layer shows significant spectral shifts; however, distinguishingly notable sizes of nanoparticles are not observed, which indicates that this newly developed composite material can be useful for various coating applications.