Gamma-radiation synthesis, characterization and nonlinear optical properties of highly stable colloidal silver nanoparticles in suspensions

Colloidal silver nanoparticles were synthesized by gamma-radiation method and stabilized by poly(4-vinylpyridine) to form highly stable suspensions in ethylene glycol. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and optical techniques were used to characterize the colloidal nanoparticles and study their formation process. Optical nonlinearity, induced by View the MathML source laser pulses from a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser at View the MathML source, was investigated by using Z-scan technique, indicating that the as-synthesized colloidal silver nanoparticles had obvious negative refractive nonlinearity.