Optical Characterization of Ag Nanoparticles Embedded in Aluminophosphate Glass

An aluminophosphate glass system containing silver and tin was prepared by the melt-quenching technique in which spherical silver nanoparticles (NPs) of different sizes were embedded upon heat treatment. Optical absorption was used in the assessment of particle growth and for particle size estimation yielding mean radii in the 10–40 nm range. Measurements in the UV region revealed absorption features indicative of the occurrence of silver ions and twofold-coordinated tin centers. Photoluminescence spectroscopy excited at 355 nm showed a broadband emission around 420 nm for the non-heat-treated glass, which shows a thermal quenching effect in temperature dependence measurements. Heat-treated glass shows a dip in the emission spectrum ascribed to absorption by NPs. The luminescence is attributed to single Ag⁺ ions. The nature of the silver emitting states is discussed.