Pulsed laser ablation synthesis of silver nanoparticles and their use in fluorescence enhancement of Tb3+-doped aluminosilicate glass

Spherical silver nanoparticles have been synthesized using laser ablation in distilled water. These nanoparticles are embedded in Tb3+-doped aluminosilicate glass through the sol-gel technique. The presence of these nanoparticles is seen to increase the emission intensity of the Tb3+ ions by more than 100%. Energy transfer from the excited silver nanoparticles to Tb3+ ions is the probable cause for this increase in emission intensity. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.