Metallic Films: From Nanofabrication and Nanostructuration to Characterizations and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Metallic films are key components in many of modern technologies, from integrated circuits to sensors. In particular, nanostructured metal (Au, Ag, Pd, Pt, Ni, Co, Fe, etc.) films find applications in the production of innovative devices and coatings. These technologies, however, require exploitation of the electronic, magnetic, optical, mechanical, and thermal properties unique to metallic materials. Thus, it is of paramount importance to control the films of nanoscale structures, as a result of the fabrication or post-fabrication processes, to tailor their properties.

When metallic films thickness decreases, the physical properties of the films change so that, in thin films, new physical properties appear, which are not present in the corresponding bulk materials. A typical example of this is metallic film resistivity, which increases drastically, decreasing film thickness. However, several other metallic films properties can be largely tuned by thickness and nanostructure control, from mechanical ones to optical ones. In addition, recently, great interest has been given to the plasmonic properties of thin nanostructured and nano-patterned metallic films, in the fabrication of high-sensitivity optical sensors (exploiting, for example, Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering). In this sense, the development of low-cost, versatile, simple and high-throughput nanofabrication and nano-patterning approaches for metallic thin films gained a key role in the production of real devices.

This Special Issue of Metals aims at collecting a compilation of review articles and original research papers illustrating: a) the latest developments in nanofabrication and nano-patterning of thin metallic films; b) the development of new 1D, 2D, and 3D metallic nano-architectures for specific applications; c) the use of advanced state-of-art characterization methods for the understanding of full metallic films and nano-architectures properties; d) exploitation of the physico-chemical properties of nanostructured metallic films in the fabrication of devices (from electronics to sensors).

In this sense, papers covering up-to-date theoretical and experimental concepts, from the elucidation of basic mechanisms involved in fabrication processes to those involved in the exploitation of the properties for forefront applications, are expected. Thus, the topics cover multidisciplinary research fields, including nanomaterials, biotechnology, nanofabrication, and sensors.

Dr. Francesco Ruffino
Guest Editor

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