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<p>The optical switching behavior of sol–gel–derived silver-doped silica (Ag-SiO<sub>2</sub>) nanocomposites is demonstrated in this study. The formation of nanocomposites with varying Ag concentrations was confirmed through structural, optical, and morphological studies. The incorporation of Ag nanoparticles generated a pronounced localized surface plasmon resonance, significantly enhancing both the nonlinear absorption and refractive nonlinearities. Z-scan measurements performed using 532&#xa0;nm, 5&#xa0;ns laser pulses revealed strong reverse saturable absorption with an optical limiting threshold of 4.12&#xa0;J/cm<sup>2</sup>, accompanied by a clear self-focusing behavior. The nanocomposites exhibited a marked increase in third-order susceptibility, reaching χ<sup>(3)</sup> ≈ 10⁻<sup>13</sup> esu, and a corresponding increase in the nonlinear refractive index. Increasing the Ag loading strengthens the local electromagnetic field confinement and promotes plasmon-assisted electronic transitions, yielding n₂ enhancement factors exceeding an order of magnitude compared with undoped silica. These findings establish Ag–SiO₂ nanocomposites as an efficient plasmonically driven platform for nanoscale photonic switching and intensity-dependent optical modulation.</p>

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Optical switching and nonlinear optical properties of plasmonic silver in sol–gel silica

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月21日

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  • S. Suchithra,
  • Vijayakumar Sadasivan Nair,
  • Saravana Kumar,
  • Vinoy Thomas,
  • Remya Muralimanohar,
  • Hubert Joe,
  • Alice Noble

摘要

The optical switching behavior of sol–gel–derived silver-doped silica (Ag-SiO2) nanocomposites is demonstrated in this study. The formation of nanocomposites with varying Ag concentrations was confirmed through structural, optical, and morphological studies. The incorporation of Ag nanoparticles generated a pronounced localized surface plasmon resonance, significantly enhancing both the nonlinear absorption and refractive nonlinearities. Z-scan measurements performed using 532 nm, 5 ns laser pulses revealed strong reverse saturable absorption with an optical limiting threshold of 4.12 J/cm2, accompanied by a clear self-focusing behavior. The nanocomposites exhibited a marked increase in third-order susceptibility, reaching χ(3) ≈ 10⁻13 esu, and a corresponding increase in the nonlinear refractive index. Increasing the Ag loading strengthens the local electromagnetic field confinement and promotes plasmon-assisted electronic transitions, yielding n₂ enhancement factors exceeding an order of magnitude compared with undoped silica. These findings establish Ag–SiO₂ nanocomposites as an efficient plasmonically driven platform for nanoscale photonic switching and intensity-dependent optical modulation.