Linear dichroism, produced by thermo-electric alignment of silver nanoparticles on the surface of ion-exchanged glass

A heated Ag+-doped glass is subjected to an external constant uniform electric field (Eo > 250 V/cm) parallel to its surface. Absorption spectra studies by linear polarized light imply the induction of a linear dichroism in the samples, after the above-mentioned thermo-electrical process. It is found that the increase in the temperature (400 °C ≤ T ≤ 600 °C), results in the formation of neutral silver multimers and clusters on the samples. Dichroism is the result of simultaneous application of the steady uniform electric field and heating. That is, the process aligns the produced silver nanoparticles along the applied electric field (Eo) during the aggregation of silver nano-clusters via dipole–dipole interaction, leading to the formation of chain-like conductive structures.