Direct laser writing of Ag nanoparticle-composed structures in glass

In this work results on laser assisted formation of silver nanoparticles in glass are presented. The sample material used in the experiments is Ag doped borosilicate glass fabricated by conventional melt quenching method. The glass samples are irradiated by nanosecond laser pulses at wavelength of 266 nm with a wide range of fluences and number of applied pulses. It is found that the laser radiation can lead to specific yellow coloration of the irradiated areas. The performed analyses show formation of silver nanoparticles in these zones. The optical properties of the irradiated areas are found to depend on the laser processing parameters and the silver concentration. The mechanism of nanoparticle formation is also discussed. The presented method can be used for formation of nanoparticles inside transparent materials and can be used for fabrication of novel materials with application in photonics.