Insights on the effect of process conditions on the optical properties of silver ion exchanged soda–lime silicate glass

Abstract The effects of ion exchange time and temperature on the optical properties and plasmonic response of silver ion exchanged soda–lime silicate glass were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) configuration, m-lines spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and UV–visible absorption spectroscopy. SEM analyses in EDS mode provided profiles of silver oxide molar concentration. These profiles were directly correlated to the silver diffusion coefficient using an adjustment procedure. The effective indices of ion exchanged glasses measured by the standard prism coupling technique (m-lines) allowed access to refractive index distributions in ion exchange regions. These ion-exchanged glasses underwent evaluation to determine their potential suitability for use in multimode planar systems.The photoluminescence results acquired after ion exchange demonstrated that the creation of Ag0 atoms from Ag+ ions was responsible for the decline and quenching of photoluminescence intensity at ion exchange times and temperatures increase. Silver nanoparticles were generated in the samples subjected to ion exchange at 480°C without the need for post-exchange treatments. The emergence of the plasmon resonance (SPR) band around 427 nm in the optical absorption spectra confirmed the formation of Ag nanoparticles in annealed glasses. Estimates of the UV-visible absorption spectra indicated an average size of silver nanoparticles ranging from 1.8 to 2.4 nm.