Sol-gel synthesis of stabilized silver nanoparticles in an organosiloxane matrix and its optical nonlinearity

Stabilized Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are synthesized and incorporated in an organosiloxane matrix and are investigated for optical nonlinearity at 527 nm using nanosecond pulses and Z-scan technique. AgNPs were synthesized through a chemical reduction of silver nitrate, which is functionalized with (3-Mercaptopropyl)triethoxysilane (MPTMS) and incorporated into an organosiloxane matrix. The reactive thiol- groups of MPTMS bind to AgNPs through ligand-mediated binding, which serve as a capping agent. The Z-scan results showed the drastic increase in nonlinear optical response of AgNP/sol for increasing input energies. The strong nonlinearity is attributed mainly to the nonlinear scattering from silver nanoparticles as scattering centers and metallic plasmon enhanced nonlinear absorption.