Plasmonic resonance of Ag nanoclusters diffused in soda-lime glasses

Silver nanoclusters were prepared in a soda-lime glass matrix through the ion-exchange (Ag+ <-> Na+) method followed by thermal annealing in an air atmosphere. The nanoscale patterning of Ag nanoclusters embedded in a soda lime glass matrix in an air atmosphere at different annealing temperatures has been investigated. During annealing, Ag+ is reduced to Ag-0 and subsequently forms silver nanoparticles inside the glass matrix. A blue shift of 20 nm has been observed as a function of the post annealing temperature. The photoluminescence intensity is highest for an annealing temperature of 500 degrees C for 1 h and continuously decreases as annealing temperature increases up to 600 degrees C. The presence of spherical nanoparticles with a maximum particle size of 7.2 nm has been observed after annealing at 600 degrees C for 1 hour, which is consistent with Mie theory based results.