Copper ion implantation and laser annealing of silica

Copper ion implantation in silica glass to doses of 8×10 16 ion/cm 2 produces a range of nanoparticle sizes, as recorded by optical transmittance and reflectance. Front and rear face reflectivity emphasizes the asymmetry in the size distribution with depth. To modify this distribution samples were annealed using laser pulses from a KrF excimer laser (at 248 nm). Since the size distribution varies with implant concentration, the effects are both depth and energy dependent and data for shallow and deep implants were contrasted.