DC electric field assisted fabrication and optical analysis of silver-doped nanocomposite glass

Embedded silver nanoparticles in glasses have raised a wide interest recently. One fabrication technique for these, which is used in this combination only in recent years, is by using field-assisted ion exchange from a metallic silver film, followed by annealing in air atmosphere. The first step results in a layer in the glass containing silver ions, while the annealing step leads to the reduction of silver to atoms followed by their agglomeration to nanoparticles. We present an analysis of the process of particle formation during the annealing step. Glasses were annealed for different durations, and thin slices of these glasses were made. Optical transmission spectra were measured, showing the position and shape of the surface plasmon bands of the nanoparticles. This allowed determining profiles of particle filling factors and sizes.