Characterization and applications of Ag nanoparticles in waveguides

M.V. ROLDÁN; A. FRATTINI; O.DE SANCTIS; H. TROIANI Y; N. PELLEGRI

Bariloche, Argentina.

Congreso; 13th International Conference on Solid Films and Surfaces; 2006

Metallic nanoparticles have been greatly researched in recent years because of their size-dependent properties and the possibility to use them for micro and nano devices. In particular, silver nanoparticles have been studied due to their optical, electrical and catalytic properties, mainly for applications as biosensors. The particle size, shape, colloids stability and nanoparticles properties are very dependant of the preparation method and experimental conditions. This work presents the preparation, characterization and applications of silver nanoparticles of different shapes that were synthesized through the chemical reduction of AgNO3 by several reducing agents and protected by surface modifiers (aminosilanes, PEG, PVP, etc) depending of specific applications. In order to characterize the formation of nanoparticles and the role of synthesis parameters (reductor, concentration, time, temperature, radiation treatments) several studies were made such as: UV-Visible spectroscopy, TEM, AFM, XRD, etc. Finally we present the incorporation of Ag nanoparticles in sol-gel obtained matrix, because this technique allows the incorporation of larger concentrations of active optical agents and the obtainment of full-dense films at lower temperature than those possible by other methods. The final goal of this work is the preparation of materials for active optical wave guides doped with nanoparticles and Erbium. We are looking for the reinforcement of the fluorescence intensity due to the effect of the resonant coupling of both optical agents (Er and nanoparticles) and the dielectric medium of the matrix to produce optical amplifiers.