Effect of thermal treatments on third-order nonlinear optical properties of hollow Cu nanoclusters

Metal nanocluster composites prepared by Cu ion implantation have been studied. The formation of nanoclusters has been evidenced by optical absorption spectra and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Fast nonlinear optical refraction and nonlinear optical absorption coefficients were measured at 790 nm for Cu nanocluster composites by the Z-scan technique. With the increase of annealing temperature, the size of nanoclusters increased significantly, and optical nonlinearities was enhanced. It is suggested that by changing the ingredient configuration of metal nanoclusters in silica, different optical nonlinear properties could be selectively obtained.