Plasmon enhanced scattering and fluorescence in amorphous matrix

A melt-quench method is used to synthesize a series of tellurite glasses containing fixed concentration of ErO, with and without silver nanoparticles. The existence of metallic nanoparticles (average diameter ∼24 - 36 nm) inside the glass is confirmed by transmission electron microscope imaging. From UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, a surface plasmon resonance band is detected in the visible region (∼484 nm). Furthermore, the intensity of both fluorescence and Raman scattering is found to be enhanced by embedding silver nanoparticles inside the glass matrix. These enhancements are attributed to the surface plasmon resonance effect in which direct plasmon excitation enhances the local field at the surface of the nanostructures. Enhanced fluorescence influenced by silver nanoparticles may contribute towards the development of optical displays, laser and optical memory devices whereas amplification of the Raman signal is promising for Raman amplifiers.