Anisotropy in the nonlinear absorption of elongated silver nanoparticles in silica, probed by femtosecond pulses

We present measurements of the anisotropy of the nonlinear absorption of a silica matrix doped with aligned spheroidal silver nanoparticles, produced by a double ion-implantation process of silver nanoparticles followed by an irradiation with Si ions. The nonlinear response was studied using the z-scan technique with fs pulses at 530 nm, which lies very close to the surface-plasmon absorption peak of the sample. The observed saturable absorption is studied for different angles of the input linear polarization of the pulses, showing a strong anisotropy, which is consistent with the fact that the nanorods are aligned. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.