Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 February 2016
Here, we expose planar and plasmonic Ag surfaces to a low-power O2/Arplasma to form an ultrathin surface oxide layer. We study the chemical state andmorphology of the plasma-treated Ag surfaces using X-ray photoelectronspectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and dark-field microscopy. Weobserve the formation of an ultrathin layer (< 10 nm) composed of both AgOx and Ag2CO3 for a plasma exposure time of 1 s byinvestigating shifts in the Ag3d, O1s, and C1s core level binding energies. Foran exposure time of 1 s, the surface structure of the planar and plasmonic Agsurfaces remains unchanged. For exposure times of 5 - 30 s, the planar Agsurfaces become porous and exhibit increased surface roughness. We demonstratethat the plasma-treated planar and plasmonic Ag surfaces lead to improvements inthe excited-state population of a polymer:fullerene coating through ultrafastpump-probe reflectometry.