title: Diffractive optical element embedded in silver-doped nanocomposite glass.
abstract: A diffractive optical element is fabricated with relative ease in a glass containing spherical silver nanoparticles 30 to 40 nm in diameter and embedded in a surface layer of thickness ~10 μm. The nanocomposite was sandwiched between a mesh metallic electrode with a lattice constant 2 μm, facing the nanoparticle containing layer and acting as an anode, and a flat metal electrode as cathode. Applying moderate direct current electric potentials of 0.4 kV and 0.6 kV at an elevated temperature of 200 °C for 30 minutes across the nanocomposites led to the formation of a periodic array of embedded structures of metallic nanoparticles. The current-time dynamics of the structuring processes, optical analyses of the structured nanocomposites and diffraction pattern of one such fabricated element are presented.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 70 Nanyang Drive, 637457 Singapore.
authors.forename: Lauren A H
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Fleming
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wackerow
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Hourd
authors.forename: W Allan
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Gillespie
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Seifert
authors.forename: Amin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abdolvand
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry*; D007909:Lenses; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012834:Silver