Nanosecond nonlinear optical properties of oxide glasses embedded with plasmonic nanoparticles at the spectral excitation near to surface plasmon resonance.

Non–linear optical (NLO) properties of materials of nanostructured are flourishing increased attention towards photon conversion, harmonic generation and optical limiting (OL) functionalities. However, many of hosts may become injected with decreased efficiencies or performances at high input intensities owing to the photo–induced deterioration. This study presents the NLO characteristics of Er3+–doped borate glasses bearing silver nanoparticles (NPs) ostending their exuberance for OL functionalities. When the glasses pumped with nanosecond (ns) laser pulses the NLO absorption [two–photon absorption (2PA)] and refraction (n 2) coefficients depict a monotonic dependence on the AgNO 3 content, with a maximum of 1.321 × 10−11 m/W and 0.709 × 10−18 m2/W respectively for 0.8 mol% AgNO 3 containing glass system. Additionally, the figure of merit reveals an enhance behavior with AgNO 3 content in the glass matrix, with maximum of 0.198 for 0.8 mol% AgNO 3 containing glass. The OL threshold values exhibit monotonous decrease trend with AgNO 3 content with lowest threshold of 27.314 J/cm2 for 0.8 mol% AgNO 3 bearing glass. The monotonic enhancement of 2 PA coefficient, and OL performance is ascribed to enhanced local field stimulation through silver NPs in the Er3+ ions' proximity. The outcomes of the study clearly reveal the high AgNO 3 bearing glasses doped with Er3+ ions are excellent candidates for OL applications functionalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]