Nanomaterials, synthesis sputtering

One of the chapters of this handbook has already made an in-depth discussion on luminescence of rare earth doped nanomaterials, presented by Liu and Chen (2007b). So in this chapter, we will focus on the chemical synthesis technology of inorganic rare earth nanomaterials, especially on the versatile solution-based routes, and recent discoveries and milestones in the synthesis and properties studies are systemically reviewed. The general physical synthesis routes, such as MOCVD, PLD, magnetron sputtering, would not be specifically mentioned in our chapter. 

Template synthesis is a relatively simple and easy procedure which has made the fabrication of rather sophisticated nanomaterials accessible to almost any laboratory. Template synthesis reqnires access to instmmentation capable of metal sputtering and electrochemical deposition. The characterization of the fabricated nanostructures can be done using instmmental techniques including spectrophotometry, voltanunetry, optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and electronic microscopies (scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)). 

The preparation of nanomaterials is one of the most active fields in material science. Number of techniques have been used for the production of nanoparticles gas-evaporation [11], sputtering [12], sol-gel method [13], hydrothermal [14], microemulsion [15, 16], polyols [17], laser pyrolysis [18], sonochemical synthesis [19], chemical coprecipitation [20-22], and so on. Among them, the surfactant assembly mediated synthesis is attracting more attention because it allows for a good... 

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