Applied Physics A (2019) 125:565

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-019-2864-6

Investigation of electronic environments and electrical

characterization of functionalised AgNPs synthesized by electroless
process
Rabina Bhujel1 · Bibhu P. Swain2 

Received: 15 May 2019 / Accepted: 19 July 2019

© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019

Abstract
Functionalized Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized on both sides of a polished p-type Si wafer with the ­AgNO3
concentrations varying from 5 to 25 mM. The AFM results reveal the average particle size of AgNPs increased from 57
to 80 nm with an increase in the ­AgNO3 concentration. The crystallite size of AgNPs varied from 16.27 to 7.63 nm with
varying the ­AgNO3 from 5 to 25 mM. The area ratio for the two spin–orbit peaks for IAg(2p3/2)/Iag(2p1/2) and IAg(3d)5/2/
IAg(3d)3/2 are varied increasing from 1.95 to 1.54 and 1.92 to 2.8, respectively, indicated modified coordination of AgNPs
with ­AgNO3 concentrations. The ATR-FTIR result indicated the presence of C, N, and O functional groups on the AgNPs
film. The composition of Ag is 92% and that of N, O, and C is around 8% as obtained by the XPS analysis. The Schottky
contact in AgNPs/p-Si/AgNPs heterojunction was more pronounced space charge limited conduction due to variation in the
average particle size of AgNPs.

1 Introduction in the entire polychromatic spectrum [7]. Pillai et al. showed

Nanostructured silver particles have been extensively studied
by the researchers across the world due to its exceptionally
unique electrical, optical as well as the chemical properties.
The increased surface activity of these AgNPs is the main
cause of showing such anomalous behavior as compared to
their bulk counterpart. Therefore AgNPs have a wide range
of applications in various fields such as surface-enhanced
Raman spectroscopy (SERS) [1], color filters [2], optical
switches [3], solar cells [4], as a catalyst for the synthesis of
various nanowires (NWs) [5], and sensors for sensing both
biological as well as the toxic chemicals like glucose and
hydrogen peroxide [6]. Thouti et al. synthesized AgNPs of
various dimensions on Si substrate and observed that the
4 nm silver thin film annealed at around 300 °C showed the
considerable reflectance reduction from the silicon substrate
* Bibhu P. Swain
bibhuprasad.swain@gmail.com; bpswain@nitmanipur.ac.in
1 AgNPs heterojunctions, and (iii) to investigate the electronic
Nanoprocessing Laboratory, Centre for Materials
Science and Nanotechnology, Sikkim Manipal Institute
of Technology, Sikkim Manipal University, Majitar, India
2
Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology
Manipur, Imphal, Manipur 795004, India
that solar cells containing AgNPs can exceptionally enhance
near-infrared absorption due to the presence of surface plas-
mons [8]. Therefore, various methods have been utilized for
the deposition of AgNPs like electrochemical/electropho-
retic deposition [9], spin coating [10], sputtering [11] and
electroless deposition [12] for their wide range of applica-
tions in different fields. Halouzka et al. deposited Ag films
on Si wafers by electrochemical/electrophoretic deposition
for electrochemical and SERS sensing [9]. Asanithi et al.
deposited AgNPs by DC magnetron sputtering to control
the growth of AgNPs. They obtained that this method can
be applied to grow uniform-sized nanoparticles [11]. Among
the above-mentioned methods, electroless deposition is more
cost-effective as well as time-consuming as compared to
the other methods. Therefore in our current study, we have
used the easy and one-step electroless deposition method for
the deposition of AgNPs on Si substrate. Also, our current
research paper attempts (i) to investigate morphology on the
­ gNO3 concentration (ii) to investigate the effect
effect of A
of AgNP’s size on the electrical properties of AgNPs/p-Si/
environments of AgNPs/p-Si/AgNPs heterojunctions.

13
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 565   Page 2 of 9 R. Bhujel, B. P. Swain

2 Experimental details on the silicon surface [12]. The reactions are illustrated by
the following equations:
AgNPs were synthesized on both sides of the polished Anodic (oxidation)
p-type Si(100) wafer by following the electroless deposi-
Si + 6HF = H2 SiF6 + 4H+ + 4e− (1)
tion method [9]. In detail, the Si wafers were dipped into
acetone under ultrasonic treatment for 10 min. Thereaf- Cathodic (reduction)
ter the Si wafers were cleaned with DI water for several Ag+ + e− = Ag (2)
times and then immersed in the piranha solution [­ H2SO4
Equation (1) shows the etching of the Si surface by HF
(98%) + H2O2 (30%) in the 3:1 ratios] for 30 min followed
with the formation of water-soluble H­ 2SiF6 compound and
by washing with DI water for 3–4 times to obtain a cleaned
removal of electrons. Meanwhile, the ­Ag+ ions present in the
Si surface. Meanwhile, the 25 mM ­AgNO3 solution was
solution attract those electrons and gets reduced to atomic
prepared by dissolving 0.084gm of A ­ gNO3 in 100 ml of
Ag nanoparticles on Si surface, as shown by the Eq. (2).
water. The remaining A ­ gNO3 solutions with the concentra-
Figure 1a, b shows the 2D and 3D AFM images of AgNPs
tions of 5, 10, 15, and 20 mM were then made using the
deposited on the polished surface of p-type Si(100) sub-
previously prepared 25 mM A ­ gNO3 solution as shown in
strates, with different ­AgNO3 concentrations of 5, 10, 15,
Table 1. Afterward, the cleaned Si substrate was dipped into
20, and 25 mM. The AgNPs exhibit solid and spherical mor-
the electroplating solution (i.e., HF 5% + different ­AgNO3
phology with the uniform particle distribution as shown in
solution) in 1:1 ratio for 10 s obtaining a large number of
the AFM images (Fig. 1(a)). The concentration of A ­ gNO3
AgNPs on both sides of the Si wafer. The as-synthesized
has a pronounced effect on the particle size of as-deposited
AgNPs/Si/AgNps heterojunction was then analyzed with
AgNPs by the electrodeposition method. The smaller sized
the various characterization techniques. The morphology
AgNPs (57.32 nm) are obtained for 5 mM ­AgNO3 concen-
of AgNPson Si surface was characterized by Atomic force
tration. However with increasing the A ­ gNO3 concentra-
microscopy (AFM) using a Nanoscope III scanning probe
tion from 5 to 25 mM the average particle size of AgNPs
microscope. The structural characterization was done with
increases from 57.32 to 80 nm. This increase in the average
the help of XRD using Rigaku Saturn 724 + Cu(Kα) Sin-
particle size of the AgNPs is may be due to the horizon-
gle-crystal X-ray diffractometer. The bonding and chemi-
tal spreading of small AgNPs into the agglomerated bigger
cal networks present on AgNPs film were further analyzed
sized AgNPs by the diffusion process as explained by the
with the help of XPS and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. The XPS
diffusion-limited aggregation model [13]. In the very first
spectra were recorded using (VG ESCA-LABMK II with an
stage of this process, AgNPs deposited on the Si surface
Mg(Kα) X-ray (1253.6 eV) source. The ATR-FTIR spectra
will hit and stick with each other forming an aggregate. In
were recorded by SHIMADZU, FTIR, IRAffinity-1S and
the second stage, the number of nanoparticles will diffuse
the J–V measurements were done by KEYSIGHT B2901A
towards the initial aggregates forming bigger sized clusters
precession source/measure unit.
of AgNPs by the similar continuous hitting and sticking pro-
cess. The formation of AgNPs clusters is governed by the
anisotropic growth of the aggregates.
3 Results and discussion Figure 1c shows the SEM images of AgNPs deposited on
the surface of the p-type Si wafer. The grain size of AgNPs
The electroless deposition of silver onto silicon surface in
increased as the ­AgNO3 concentration was increased from
an aqueous medium containing silver ions (­ Ag+) and HF is
5 to 25 mM. The particle distribution inset in Fig. 1c shows
based on an electrochemical redox reaction in which both the
that the AgNPs prepared from 5 mM ­AgNO3 have the maxi-
oxidation and reduction processes take place simultaneously
mum number of particles having the size of ~ 60 nm. With
the increasing concentration of A­ gNO3 from 5 to − 25 mM
the AgNPs size increased drastically from 60 to 80 nm as
shown clearly from the particle distribution diagram. The
Table 1  Preparation of 5, 10, 15 and 20 mM ­AgNO3 solutions
increase in particle size with a higher concentration of
S. no Conc. of ­AgNO3 Volume of 25 mM The volume ­AgNO3 is due to the aggregation of small-sized AgNPs to
solution (mM) ­AgNO3 solution (ml) of DI water bigger sized AgNP clusters. The SEM images of AgNPs are
(ml)
in good agreement with the AFM images shown in Fig. 1a.
1 20 16 4 Figure 2a shows the XRD spectra of AgNPs deposited
2 15 12 8 on p-type Si(100) substrates with the different ­AgNO 3
3 10 8 12 concentrations of 5, 15, and 25  mM. The as-prepared
4 5 4 16

13
Investigation of electronic environments and electrical characterization of functionalised…
Fig. 1  a 2D AFM images b 3D AFM images, and c SEM images of AgNPs with varying the A
AgNPs shows high order of crystallinity with four prom-
inent peaks in the XRD spectra. The peaks are arising
at the angles, 38.33, 44.58, 64.47, and 77.32° with the
corresponding planes of (111) (200) (220), and (311)
observed, respectively. The crystallite size of the AgNPs
was obtained by applying the Debye Scherrer’s formula,
i.e.,
D = (0.9 𝜆)∕(𝛽 Cos𝜃) (3)
where D is the crystallite size of AgNPs, λ is the X-ray wave-
length, β is the FWHM of the most intense XRD peak and
θ is the value of glancing angle at 2θ. The calculated val-
ues of the crystallite size of the AgNPs are 16.27, 7.02 and
Page 3 of 9  565
­ gNO3 concentration from 5 to 25 mM
7.63 nm for the ­AgNO3 concentrations of 5, 15 and 25 mM,
respectively.
Figure 2b shows the strain present on AgNPs film for
the different A
­ gNO3 concentrations of 5, 15 and 25 mM as
calculated by applying the Williamson Hall formula i.e.
𝛽Cos𝜃 = K∕D + 4𝜀 Sin𝜃 (4)
where ε refers to the slope of the straight line which gives
the residual strain present in the AgNPs film. The negative
slope indicated that the film is subjected to compressive
stress. The residual strain present in the AgNPs film is 0.01,
0.016, and 0.012 with ­AgNO3 concentrations of 5, 15, and
25 mM, respectively. The decrease in both the crystallite
size and strain in the AgNPs film is due to an increase in the
13
 565   Page 4 of 9
Fig. 1  (continued)
size of AgNPs with increasing the ­AgNO3 concentration
from 5 to 25 mM. It can be seen that with an increase in the
­AgNO3 concentration, the crystallite size decreases while
that of particle size increases. Which confirms the presence
of more number densely packed Ag crystal inside the bigger
sized AgNPs. The increased number of Ag crystals is able to
form a good contact between the Ag/Si interface. Therefore
greater the surface-to-volume ratio, more is the active sites
available forming an attractive bond between two different
materials. This leads to a decrease in the barrier height of
AgNP/p-Si and an increase in the conductivity of AgNPs/Si
heterojunction with a larger particle size of AgNPs.
Figure 3 shows the ATR-FTIR spectra of AgNPs for the
­AgNO3 concentrations of 5, 15, and 25 mM in the range
of 400–4000 cm−1. Five small absorption signatures were
observed at 614.7, 707.6, 1100, 1634, and 3507 cm−1. The
absorptions at 614.7, 707.6, 1100, 1634, and 3507 cm−1
correspond to N–H, C–H out of plane bending, C–C
stretching, C=C/C=O and N–Hn/O–H stretching modes,
respectively, indicating the presence of different functional
groups attached on the AgNPs surface [14]. Moreover, a
13
R. Bhujel, B. P. Swain
dip signature observed at 2353 cm−1 corresponds to the
presence of atmospheric C–O bonds.
Figure 4a shows the broad scan of XPS spectra of AgNPs
with the A
­ gNO3 concentration varying from 5 to 25 mM. The
core orbital spectra of Ag(4p)3/2, Ag(4 s), Ag(3d), Ag(3p)3/2
and Ag(3p)1/2 are observed at 62, 94.5, 368.6, 574.6, and
604.5 eV, respectively. The binding energy for C(1 s), N(1 s),
and O(1 s) is observed at 284.4, 399.6, and 531.9 eV, respec-
tively, which indicates the attachment of C, N, and O func-
tional groups on the surface of AgNPs. The two Auger peaks
of ­OKLL and ­CKLL are also observed at 744.5 and 902.4 eV,
respectively. The atomic percentage of Ag, N, O, and C in the
AgNPs film was further calculated by applying the formula
Ai
Si
Atomic % = ∑ A (5)
i
Si
where ­Ai is the area under the XPS curve and ­Si is the rela-
tive sensitivity factor. The composition of Ag is 92 at.% and
Investigation of electronic environments and electrical characterization of functionalised…
Fig. 1  (continued)
the total composition of impurity atoms (N, O, and C) are
around 8 at.% in the AgNPs film.
Figure 4b shows the deconvolution of Ag(3p) core orbital
spectra into two Gaussian peaks corresponding to Ag(3p)3/2
and Ag(3p)1/2 states. T­ heAgNO3 concentration was varied
from 5 to 25 mM. The FWHM of Ag(3p)3/2 core orbital
increases from 8.08 to 8.86 eV. Similarly the FWHM of
Ag(3p)1/2 core orbital also increases from 8.7 to 11.43 eV for
an increase in the ­AgNO3 concentration from 5 to 25 mM.
This variation in FWHM or excess broadening of the Ag(3p)
core orbital indicates (a) the non-uniformity of AgNps film
and b) the increasing Ag content in AgNPs film with the
­AgNO3 concentration varying from 5 to 25 mM. Further-
more, the hole lifetime in the AgNPs film was calculated
from the Heisenberg’s uncertainty relationship i.e.
FWHM = h∕𝜏 (6)
where FWHM is full width at half maxima of Ag binding
energies, h = Planks constant and τ corresponds to the hole
lifetime of AgNPs. The calculated result shows that the hole
lifetime of AgNPs varied from 4.8 × 10–16 to 4.66 × 10–16 s
for Ag(3p)3/2 states and for Ag(3p)1/2 states the hole lifetime
changes from 3.61 × 10–16 to 4.7 × 10−16 s, respectively.
Page 5 of 9  565
Similarly in Fig. 4c the Ag(3d) core orbital was deconvo-
luted into Ag(3d)5/2 and Ag(3d)3/2 states, respectively. The
FWHM and the hole lifetime of the Ag(3d)5/2 and Ag(3d)3/2
core orbital shows a similar trend as like Ag(3p) states as
explained before.
From Fig. 4d it has been realized that the binding energy
of Ag(3p)3/2 shifts from 574.52 to 573,78 eV and that of
Ag(3p)1/2 shifts from 603.42 to 602.83 eV. A similar trend
was also shown by the Ag(3d)5/2 /and Ag(3d)3/2 states. The
shifting of this binding energy towards the red region (low
frequency) with increasing the AgNPs size is due to the
attachment of a lesser number of electronegative atoms like
oxygen and nitrogen on the surface of AgNPs film. There-
fore at higher A­ gNO3 concentration, the purity of AgNPs
film increases.
Figure  4e shows the intensity ratios of IAg(3p)3/2/
IAg(3p)1/2 and IAg(3d)5/2 / IAg(3d)3/2 of AgNPs for the
­AgNO3 concentrations of 5–25 mM. The area ratio for the
two spin–orbit peaks ­(2p3/2:2p1/2) decreased from 1.95 to
1.54, however, ideally 2 electrons in the ­2p1/2 level and 4
electrons in the 2­ p3/2 level. Similarly, the area ratio for the
two spin–orbit peaks for IAg(3d)5/2/ IAg(3d)3/2 is increasing
from 1.92 to 2.8 in which ideally 3:2 electrons participated
13
 565   Page 6 of 9 R. Bhujel, B. P. Swain

1000 5mM between IAg(3d)5/2 and IAg(3d)3/2. This indicated the change
(a)

(111)
15mM of coordination within the Ag NPs.
25mM
The bandgap alignment in AgNP/p-Si/AgNP heterojunc-
800
tion is controlled by electron affinity, work function, and
intensity (a. u)

ionization potential of AgNPs and p-Si. Figure 5a shows

(200)
600 the structure of AgNPS/p-Si/AgNPs heterojunction where

(220)
AgNPs is deposited on both sides of the p-type Si wafer. The

(311)
400 AFM distribution shows that the particle size of AgNPs is
within the range of 55–100 nm. Hence the energy states of
AgNPs are not continuous but are split into discrete energy
200
states. Therefore to calculate the HOMO and LUMO states
of AgNPs, the ionization potential and electron affinity value
0 are calculating using the formula.
20 30 40 50 60 70 80
2θ Degrees 3 1
( )
I=W+ (7)
8 R
0.02 25 mM
(b)
5 1
( )
A=W− (8)
8 R
0.00
where I is the ionization potential, A is the electron affinity,
0.02 15 mM W is the work function for the bulk Ag metal and R is the
β cos θ

radius of the particle [15]. By taking 57.32 nm as the average

0.00 particle size for 5 mM A ­ gNO3 concentration and 80 nm for
25 mM ­AgNO3 concentration, the values of I and A are cal-
0.01 5 mM culated by applying Eqs. (7) and (8). The Ionization poten-
tial (I) values are 4.273 eV and 4.269 eV for the AgNPs with
0.00 the particle size of 57.32 and 80 nm, respectively. Similarly,
electron affinity (A) values are 4.238 and 4.244 eV for the
-2 0 2 4 AgNPs having the average particle size of 57.32 and 80 nm,
4 Sin θ respectively. Furthermore, the values of HOMO and LUMO
are obtained as.
Fig. 2  a XRD spectra of AgNPs, and b strain on AgNPs film with
different ­AgNO3 concentration of 5, 15 and 25 mM The energy of HOMO = − I (9)
and
The energy of LUMO = −A (10)
5mM
N-H

15mM The value of HOMO comes out to be −  4.273 and

C-H

25mM − 4.269 eV whereas the value for LUMO is − 4.238 and

− 4.244 eV for the average AgNPs particle size of 57.32 and
C=C/C=O

80 nm, respectively.
Intensity (a.u)

N-Hn /O-H
C-C

Figure 5b shows the band diagram of AgNPs/p-Si/AgNPs

heterojunction showing the discrete energy states with the
C-O

HOMO–LUMO energy levels of AgNPs. The hypothesis

which supports this phenomenon is that with decreased the
particle size from bulk to nanoscale the continuous energy
states are split into discrete levels because of the quantum
confinement effect. It is observed that with increasing the
average particle size of AgNPs from 57.32 to 80 nm the
HOMO–LUMO energy difference slightly decreases from
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 0.035 to 0.0.025 eV which further supports the phenome-
-1
Wavenumber (cm ) non of electronic confinement effect in AgNPs. At V = 0, the
bandgap offset between AgNPs and p-Si is 0.188 eV, there-
fore, at the voltage less than V = 0.188 eV has theoretically
Fig. 3  ATR-FTIR spectra of AgNPs with ­AgNO3 concentrations of 5,
15, and 25 mM

13
Investigation of electronic environments and electrical characterization of functionalised… Page 7 of 9  565

(b) Ag3p3/2 Ag3p1/2 Ag3d5/2 Ag3d3/2

25 mM (c) 25 mM

(a) 5mM

Ag(3d)
10mM
15mM 20 mM
20 mM
20mM
25mM

Counts/Sec
Ag(3p) 3/2

Counts/sec
Ag(3p) 1/2
Counts/sec

15 mM
C KLL 15 mM
N(1s)

O(1s)
OKLL
Ag(4p) 3/2

10 mM
C(1s)
Ag(4s)

10 mM

5 mM
5 mM

0 500 1000 540 550 560 570 580 590 600 610 620 360 380
Binding energy (eV) Binding energy (eV) Binding energy(eV)

3.0
I3p3/2 /I3p1/2 (e)
(d)
Binding energy (eV) I3d5/2 /3d 3/2

2.5

2.0

1.5
5 10 15 20 25
AgNO3 concentration (mM)

Fig. 4  a Broad XPS spectra of AgNPs, b the deconvolution of Ag(3p) and e IAg(3p)3/2/IAg(3p)1/2 and IAg(3d)5/2/IAg(3d)3/2 of Ag(3d) core
core orbital, c deconvolution of Ag(3d) core orbital, d binding energy orbital with different A
­ gNO3 concentration of 5–25 mM
of Ag(3d)5/2, Ag(3d)3/2 and Ag(3p)3/2 and Ag(3p)1/2 deconvolution,

no current flow through the potential barrier. However, in Figure  5c shows the J–V characteristic curve for
room temperature some current flows through the AgNPs/p- AgNPs/p-Si/AgNPs heterojunctions with A ­ gNO3 concen-
Si/AgNPs heterojunction due to hopping conduction. At the trations varying from 5 to 25 mM. The current density of
voltage, V > 0, the energy level of AgNPs (right) moves to AgNPs/p-Si/AgNPs heterojunction increases with increasing
the downside, hence, the above V = 0.188 eV, the electro- the ­AgNO3 concentration from 5 to 25 mM over the whole
chemical potential (µ) of AgNPs (left side) decreases which voltage range of − 5 to 5 V as a result of the increase in
shifts the forward current flows through the AgNPs/p-Si number and particle size of AgNPs which further leads to
heterojunction. Hence, the electrons are first excited from an increase in the connectivity between the AgNPs within
the LUMO of AgNPs to the conduction band of p-Si and the film resulting in the higher mobility of the electrons.
again to the conduction band of AgNPs as shown in Fig. 5b. It was further observed that the J-V curves of AgNPs/Si/
Similarly, V < 0, the µ of AgNPs (left side) increased which AgNPs are slightly asymmetric in nature due to the presence
shifts the energy level of AgNPs (left) upside, hence, the of nonuniformly distributed AgNPs on both sides of the p-Si
above V = 0.188 eV, the reverse current flows through the wafer. The curves will be more symmetric if the uniform-
AgNPs/p-Si heterojunction. Hence, the electrons are first sized particles can be formed.
excited from the LUMO of AgNPs and flow to the con- Figure  5d shows the log (J) versus log (V) graph for
duction band of p-Si and again to the conduction band of AgNPs with A ­ gNO 3 concentrations varying from 5 to
AgNPs. 25 mM. The ideality factor (n) evaluated from AgNPs/p-Si/

13
 565   Page 8 of 9 R. Bhujel, B. P. Swain

(a) 1000
5mM
(c)
10mM
15mM

Current density (mA/cm 2)

500 20mM
25mM

-500

(b) -1000
-4 -2 0 2 4
Voltage (V)

3 5mM (d)
10mM
15mM
2 20 mM
25mM
Log (J)
1

-1

-2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

Log (V)

Fig. 5  a Band gap structure of AgNPs/p-Si/AgNPs heterojunction, b versus log (V) graph of AgNPs/Si/AgNPs heterojunction with ­AgNO3
band diagram of AgNPs/p-Si/AgNPs heterojunction and c J–V char- concentration varying from 5 to 25 mM
acteristic curve of AgNPs/p-Si/AgNPs heterojunction, and d log (J)

13
Investigation of electronic environments and electrical characterization of functionalised…
AgNPs heterojunction using 5 mM of ­AgNO3 with two dif-
ferent regions are 1.04 and 1.6, respectively, showing two
different conduction mechanisms, taking place at different
applied voltage ranges. At low voltage (> − 0.5 V), the cur-
rent show Ohmic behavior (J α V), whereas, at the higher
voltage (< − 0.5 V) the slope of J versus V is 1.6, clearly
suggests that the conduction in this region is favored by
space charge limited conduction (SCLC) mechanism. For the
higher ­AgNO3 concentration of 10–25 mM, the AgNPs/p-Si/
AgNPs heterojunction shows Schottky behavior. The slope
of the J–V characteristics is 1.04–1.21 with the increase in
AgNPs particle size.
4 Conclusion
AgNPs were deposited on both sides of the Si wafer by an
electroless deposition method. The particle size of AgNPs
ranges from 55 to 100 nm with the average particle size var-
ying from 57.32 to 80 nm. The crystallite size of AgNPs var-
ied from 16.27 to 7.63 nm with the simultaneous decrease in
microstrain present in the AgNPs film (0.01–0.012) for the
­AgNO3 concentrations varying from 5 to 25 mM, respec-
tively. The ATR-FTIR spectra detect the presence of differ-
ent impurity C, O, and N functional groups on the AgNPs
surface which is further supported by the XPS spectra. The
composition of Ag is 92% and the total composition of N,
O, and C is around 8 at.%, respectively. The J–V characteris-
tics of different AgNPs/p-Si/AgNPs heterojunction confirm
that the conduction is largely favored by SCLC conduction
mechanism due to the presence of nonuniformly distributed
AgNPs on both the surfaces of the p-Si wafer.
Acknowledgements  One of the authors Ms. RabinaBhujel acknowl-
edges the financial support from Dr. RamdasPai and VasanthiPai
endowment fund.
Page 9 of 9  565
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