Scientists have created a novel method for producing gold nanoparticles (NPs) in tellurite glasses, a type of glass with special qualities utilized in art and adornment for centuries. Gold NPs’ unusual light modulation characteristics have led to applications in various sectors, including colored glass and specific optical components. Tellurite glass is particularly significant for optical, laser, and telecommunications technologies because it is easy to make, durable, has low phonon energy, and has a large transmission window. However, the striking approach, widely employed in silicate glass to create gold NPs precisely, needs to be more for this glass. The novel method uses gold nanoparticles to produce new optical functions in tellurite glasses.
The researchers devised the new approach after noting the shortcomings of the previous striking process for creating gold NPs in this glass and making a coincidental finding of gold NP creation in tellurite glass. Based on this advancement in knowledge and chance discovery, the team created entirely new methods for both steps of the striking technique: (i) a controlled cold crucible corrosion technique for incorporating gold ions into the glass and (ii) a glass powder reheating technique for converting the gold ions to gold NPs.
The invention of precise control over the creation of gold NPs in tellurite glass guides the creation and modification of the plasmonic properties of tellurite glass in the future for intriguing photonics research and applications.
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