Formation of optical properties of intermetallic nanoclusters formed by sequential ion implantation

Recent demonstrations that large third order nonlinear responses can be achieved in metal nanocluster glass composites are of significant interest because of their potential for use in all optical switching networks. These composite materials exhibit picosecond switching and relaxation times, thermal and chemical stability, high laser damage thresholds, and low two photon absorption. Ion implantation has been shown to be a useful fabrication method to form these nanoclusters in silica because of its ability to produce thin films in waveguide configurations containing a high volume fraction (> 1%) of metal colloids with well defined vertical and horizontal dimensional control. Using sequential ion implantation of more than one element the authors can modify the composition and microstructure of the composites by forming intermetallic metal colloids. In this work the authors report on the improved optical response of metallic nanocluster composites formed by sequential implantation of Cd and Ag and Sb and Ag. Characterization of the samples by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals that approximately spherical metallic colloids are formed for all implanted species during the implantation process. Selected area diffraction patterns indicate that the colloids formed are intermetallic in composition. Linear optical absorption measurements made at room temperature in air from 900 to 200 nm show significant changes in both the magnitude and wavelength of the surface plasmon resonance. The formation of intermetallic nanoclusters results in changes in both the linear and nonlinear optical properties of the composite material that are not possible with single element colloids alone. The results are explained in terms of effective medium theory