Excimer Laser Induced Spatially Resolved Formation and Implantation of Plasmonic Particles in Glass.

Metallic nanoparticles are important building blocks for plasmonic applications. The spatially defined arrangement of these nanoparticles in a stable glass matrix is obtained here by nanosecond excimer laser irradiation at 193 nm. Two approaches are addressed: (1) Laser induced formation of particles from a dopant material pre-incorporated in the glass, (2) Particle formation and implantation by irradiation of material pre-coated on top of the glass. Silver nanoparticles are formed inside Ag⁺ doped glass (method 1). Gold nanoparticles are implanted by irradiation of gold coated glass (method 2). In the latter case, with a few laser pulses the original gold film disintegrates into particles which are then embedded in the softened glass matrix. A micron sized spatial resolution (periodic arrangements with 2 µm period) is obtained in both cases by irradiating the samples with an interference beam pattern generated by a phase mask. The plasmonic absorption of the nanoparticles leads to a contrast of the optical density between irradiated and non-irradiated lines of up to 0.6.