Preparation of Ag nanocrystals embedded silicate glass by field-assisted diffusion and its properties of optical absorption

Ag nanocrystals embedded silicate glass was successfully prepared by solid-state field-assisted diffusion, combined with post-annealing process. The changes of glass structure, the chemical states of Ag and O species, the microstructures of Ag nanocrystals, as well as the properties of optical absorption were studied for the as-diffused and post-annealed samples. The result showed that after the field-assisted diffusion process, some Ag+ ions replaced the alkaline ions in the glass matrix. Meanwhile, other Ag+ ions were reduced to Ag0 atoms occupying the interspaces of the network and Ag0 atoms clusters with small size were formed. This caused the relaxation of the glass network and the deceasing of force constant for Si–O linkage. After post-annealing process, bigger size of Ag nanoparticles were formed, which caused the peak corresponding to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) observed.

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