Preparation and Nonlinear Optical Properties of Ag/SiO2 Glass Composite Thin Films

Abstract
A multitarget sputtering method was applied to prepare Ag particles embedded in SiO2 glass thin films. In the optical absorption spectra of the films, the absorption peak due to the surface plasmon resonance of Ag particles was clearly observed at the wavelength of 390–406 nm. The full width at half-maximum of the absorption band is decreased with increasing diameter of Ag particles. The third-order nonlinear susceptibility at 400 nm was estimated to be 1.6×10-8 esu for the film with 9.0 at% of Ag by means of a degenerated four-wave mixing.