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Updated: Jan 18, 2026
Measurement of Scattering Nonlinearities from a Single Plasmonic Nanoparticle
Published on: January 3, 2016
Plasmon-enhanced linear and second-order surface nonlinear optical response of silver nanoparticles fabricated using
Lu Zhang1, Fanfan Lu1, Wending Zhang1
1MOE Key Laboratory of Material Physics and Chemistry under Extraordinary Conditions and Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Optical Information Technology, School of Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
We present the plasmon-enhanced linear and second-order surface nonlinear optical response of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) fabricated using a femtosecond pulse. Theoretical analysis indicates Ag NPs with a diameter of ∼100 nm have excellent linear response within the visible band, and the electric field intensity enhancement factor reaches ∼105 under excitation of continuous light of 632.8 nm. Meanwhile, the simulation result of second-order surface nonlinear optical response shows that the second harmonic conversion efficiency of the Ag NPs dimer is two orders of magnitude higher than that of a single Ag NP, under excitation of a femtosecond pulse. In experiment, the linear response of Ag NPs is examined using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with a Raman enhancement factor of ∼1.7 × 1010, revealing the excellent linear optical response of Ag NPs. Moreover, the spectra of the second harmonic can be measured clearly under conditions of an average pump power of 40 μW, revealing the excellent second-order surface nonlinear optical response of Ag NPs.
