Bimetallic alloys with large discrepancies in atomic radii and crystal structure typically yield systems that are highly immiscible, even at high temperatures. The Ag_xFe_1−x binary system has limited solid and liquid solubility and thus phase separated Ag + Fe alloys should result. Furthermore, Ag has interesting plasmonic properties and Fe is a strong ferromagnet, thus magneto-plasmonic nanoparticles/films should result due to their phase separation. We have leveraged a combinatorial sputter deposition to synthesize thin films with a large Ag_xFe_1−x (0.19 < x < 0.84) phase space to correlate the composition and structure to the optical and magnetic properties for both as-deposited and annealed compositions.

在原子半径和晶体结构上有很大差异的双金属合金，即使在高温下，通常也会产生高度不溶混的体系。Ag _x Fe _1-x二元体系的固液溶解度有限，因此应形成相分离的Ag + Fe合金。此外，Ag具有令人感兴趣的等离子特性，而Fe是强铁磁体，因此由于其相分离，应产生磁等离子纳米颗粒/薄膜。我们已经利用组合溅射沉积技术来合成具有较大Ag _x Fe _1-x（0.19 <x <0.84）相空间的薄膜，以使沉积时和退火后的成分和结构与光学和磁性相关。