The formation of silver metal nanoparticles by ion implantation in silicate glasses

Four various types of silicate glasses were implanted with Ag+ ions with different energy (330 keV, 1.2 MeV and 1.7 MeV), with the fluence being kept constant (1 × 1016 ions cm−2). The as-implanted samples were annealed at 600 °C for 1 h. The samples were characterised in terms of: the nucleation of metal nanoparticles (linear optical absorption), the migration of silver through the glass matrix during the implantation and post-implantation annealing (Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy), and the oxidation state of silver (photoluminescence in the visible region).