The effect of femtosecond laser irradiation conditions on precipitation of silver nanoparticles in silicate glasses

We report the effect of femtosecond laser irradiation conditions on precipitation of silver nanoparticles in Silicate glasses. Absorption spectra show that the intensity of the absorption peak due to the surface plasmon resonance of silver nanoparticles increases with increase of the light intensity of the laser beam, beam diameter in the focal plane, Rayleigh length of the focusing lens and shot number of the laser pulse. The position of the surface plasmon resonance peak remains constant regardless of the variation of the irradiation conditions. The influences of laser irradiation conditions on the size and spatial distribution of silver nanoparticles are discussed.