Surface plasmon polariton assisted optical switching in noble bimetallic nanoparticle system

Journal Article · Mon Jan 12 04:00:00 EST 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4905896· OSTI ID:22399121

Dhara, Sandip ^[1]; Lu, C. -Y.; Tu, W. -S. ^[2]; Magudapathy, P. ^[3]; Huang, Y. -F.

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1. Surface and Nanoscience Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603102 (India)
2. Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 106, Taiwan (China)
3. Materials Physics Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603102 (India)

Photoresponse of bimetallic Au-Ag nanoparticle embedded soda glass (Au-Ag@SG) substrate is reported for surface plasmon assisted optical switching using 808 nm excitation. Au-Ag@SG system is made by an ion beam technique where Ag{sup +} is introduced first in the soda glass matrix by ion exchange technique. Subsequently, 400 keV Au{sup +} is implanted in the sample for different fluences, which is followed by an ion beam annealing process using 1 MeV Si{sup +} at a fixed fluence of 2 × 10{sup 16} ions·cm{sup −2}. Characteristic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks around 400 and 550 nm provided evidence for the presence of Au and Ag nanoparticles. An optical switching in the Au-Ag@SG system with 808 nm, which is away from the characteristic SPR peaks of Ag and Au nanoparticles, suggests the possible role of two photon absorption (TPA) owing to the presence of interacting electric dipole in these systems. The role of surface plasmon polariton is emphasized for the propagation of electronic carrier belonging to the conduction electron of Au-Ag system in understanding the observed photoresponse. Unique excitation dependent photoresponse measurements confirm the possible role of TPA process. A competitive interband and intraband transitions in the bimetallic system of Au and Ag, which may be primarily responsible for the observation, are validated qualitatively using finite difference time domain calculations where inter-particle separation of Au and Ag plays an important role. Thus, a smart way of optical switching can be envisaged in noble bimetallic nanocluster system where long wavelength with higher skin depth can be used for communication purpose.

• OSTI ID: 22399121
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 106; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ABSORPTION
ANNEALING
ELECTRIC DIPOLES
ELECTRONS
EXCITATION
GLASS
GOLD
GOLD IONS
NANOPARTICLES
PHOTONS
PLASMONS
POLARONS
RESONANCE
SILICON IONS
SILVER
SILVER IONS
SODIUM CARBONATES
SUBSTRATES
SURFACES