LINEAR AND NONLINEAR-OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF LEAD NANOMETER DIMENSION METAL PARTICLES IN SILICA FORMED BY ION-IMPLANTATION

Nanometer dimension metal colloid-glass composites were fabricated by ion implantation of Pb in silica. The samples were implanted with nomi nal doses of 3, 6 and 12 x 10(16) ions/cm(2). The optical absorption w as measured from 200 to 900 Mn and found to increase with increasing d ose. The non-linear index of refraction was measured using the z-scan technique. The non-linear response, 1.0 X 10(-10) less than or equal t o n(2) less than or equal to 6.8 X 10(-10) cm(2)/W increased with incr easing dose. Both the linear and non-linear response are due to the pr esence of the nanometer dimension Pb metal particles.