Effect of annealing on metal nanoclusters tuned luminescence shift in Ag and Cu embedded nanocomposite glasses

Abstract

Nanoscale silver and copper clusters are prepared in the soda-lime glass by sequential ion-exchange technique and thermal annealing process. The observed peak values of optical absorption spectroscopy result in the confirmation of embedded Ag and Cu nanoclusters in soda-lime glass. The effect of temperature on the plasmonic response has been investigated for various temperatures. The temperature dependence of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) shifted towards the blue wavelength region, due to growth of silver and copper nanoclusters. Similar to the absorption peak shift, the blue shift in emission spectra has been observed in the photoluminescence spectra of embedded Ag and Cu nanoclusters. The optical bandgap values of Ag and Cu nanoclusters are determined from Tauc's plot. The bandgap variations with luminescence spectra and their emission peak shift with the temperature make them as a promising material for temperature sensors. The FESEM images confirm the cluster distribution of these embedded metal nanoparticles.