Fabrication and optical characterization of silica optical fibers containing gold nanoparticles

De Oliveira R.E.P.; Sjodin N.; Fokine M.; Margulis W.; De Matos C.J.S.; Norin L.

Fabrication and optical characterization of silica optical fibers containing gold nanoparticles

Tipo

Artigo

Data de publicação

2015

Periódico

ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

Citações (Scopus)

16

Autores

De Oliveira R.E.P.
Sjodin N.
Fokine M.
Margulis W.
De Matos C.J.S.
Norin L.

Resumo

© 2014 American Chemical Society.Gold nanoparticles have been used since antiquity for the production of red-colored glasses. More recently, it was determined that this color is caused by plasmon resonance, which additionally increases the material's nonlinear optical response, allowing for the improvement of numerous optical devices. Interest in silica fibers containing gold nanoparticles has increased recently, aiming at the integration of nonlinear devices with conventional optical fibers. However, fabrication is challenging due to the high temperatures required for silica processing and fibers with gold nanoparticles were solely demonstrated using sol-gel techniques. We show a new fabrication technique based on standard preform/fiber fabrication methods, where nanoparticles are nucleated by heat in a furnace or by laser exposure with unprecedented control over particle size, concentration, and distribution. Plasmon absorption peaks exceeding 800 dB m-1 at 514-536 nm wavelengths were observed, indicating higher achievable nanoparticle concentrations than previously reported. The measured resonant nonlinear refractive index, (6.75 ± 0.55) × 10-15 m2 W-1, represents an improvement of >50×.

Assuntos Scopus

Gold Nanoparticles , Nanoparticle concentrations , Nonlinear optical response , Nonlinear refractive index , Optical characterization , Plasmonics , Silica optical fibers , Specialty optical fibers