Characterization of silver colloids formed in LiBbO(3) by Ag and O implantation at room and elevated temperatures

To address the issue of dispersion of Ag colloids in LiNbO3 at heat treatme nt temperatures of 400-500 degrees C, Ap,and O were implanted at energies o f 160 and 35 keV, respectively, at room temperature (RT) and at 500 degrees C. Fluences were 4x 10(16) and 8x 10(16)/cm(2) and the order of the Ag and O implants was varied. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectra indicated t hat only O followed by Ag implantation of 500 degrees C produced silver oxi de. Optical absorption spectrometry and RES showed significant differences in the dispersion of the colloids with implant temperature and implant orde r. Implantation of Ag at 1.5 MeV to a fluence of 2x10(16)/cm(2) followed by heat treatment at 500 degrees C for 1 h produced nonlinear optical wavegui des with a nonlinear index of the order of 10(-10) cm(2)/W at 532 nm. (C) 1 999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.