Optical response of composite plasmonic structures

Abstract

Here we demonstrate the composition of a 3D porous quartz matrix infiltrated by silver nanoparticles as a possible application for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) investigations. Various types of infiltration techniques applied for the  incorporation of plasmonic Ag nanoparticles inside the  pores are considered. We observe an enhancement of the second harmonic generation intensity, two-photon luminescence and nonlinear absorption in the composite metal–dielectric structures in the spectral vicinity of the localized surface plasmon resonance in silver nanoparticles, which confirms the related amplification of the local field effects in these 3D composite structures.