New techniques for optical absorption measurement of implanted nanoparticles in float glass

Abstract

New techniques are reported for optical absorption and waveguide loss measurement of copper, gold and silver implanted float glass. Implantations were carried out on the tin face of the float glass since this face is an optical waveguide. Specially made triangle shape masks were used during implantation to study the optical loss–implant length relation. Absorption coefficients were extracted as 2.4 and 1 cm −1 for the gold and silver implants at 633 nm, respectively. These values were found to be implant condition dependent. To analyse the shape of nanoparticles a sandwiched structure was used in an optical absorption measurement set-up in which two guiding faces were put in contact. The sandwiched structure places the colloids at the centre of the optical field distribution rather than on the boundary zone. These experiments have revealed that the copper and the gold particles may have non-spherical shapes, whereas for silver, the formation of spherical nanoparticles is more likely.