Measuring plasmon-resonance enhanced third-harmonic χ(3) of Ag nanoparticles.

By coinciding the plasmon frequency with the third-harmonic frequency of the excitation light, the authors determined the plasmon-resonance enhanced optical third-harmonic-generation (THG) susceptibility of a polyvinylpyrrolidone-coated Ag nanoparticle with a 5–7 nm diameter. With dispersed Ag nanoparticles on a quartz surface and through measuring the frequency dependent THG intensities, interface THG showed evident enhancement when the third harmonic of excitation matched the Ag-nanoparticle’s plasmon-resonant frequency. According to the effective medium theory and by analyzing the interface THG under focused Gaussian beams, the ensemble-averaged χ(3)(3ω:ω,ω,ω) of a Ag nanoparticle can be estimated to be on the order of 2×10-11 esu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]