PECULIARITIES AND APPLICATION PERSPECTIVES OF METAL-ION IMPLANTS IN GLASSES

Ion implantation in insulators causes modifications in the refractive index as a result of radiation damage, phase separation, or compound formation. As a consequence, light waveguides may be formed with interesting applications in the field of optoelectronics. Recently implantation of metals ions (e.g. silver, copper, gold, lead, etc.) showed the possibility of small radii colloidal particles formation in a thin surface layer of the glass substrate. These particles exhibit an electron plasmon resonance which depends on the optical constants of the implanted metal and on the refractive index of the glass host. The non-linear optical properties of such colloids, in particular the enhancement of optical Kerr susceptibility, suggest that the ion implantation technique may play an important role for the production of all-optical switching devices. In this paper an analysis of the state-of-the-art of the research in this field will be presented in the framework of ion implantation in glass physics and chemistry.