Large broadband visible to infrared plasmonic absorption from Ag nanoparticles with a fractal structure embedded in a Teflon AF® matrix -: art. no. 013103

An unusual almost flat broadband plasmonic absorption, ranging from 400 nm to well beyond 2500 nm, was observed in a 150 nm thin film of Ag nanoparticles embedded in a Teflon AF (R) matrix. The nanocomposites were synthesized by a simple single-step vapor-phase codeposition method. The Ag nanoparticles of various sizes and shapes, and thus various resonance frequencies, form a fractal percolating network. The broadband absorption, attributed to plasmon excitations within the nanoparticles, could be useful for multicolor applications in the visible and infrared wavelengths region. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.