Visible to infrared photoluminescence from gold nanoparticles embedded in germano-silicate glass fiber

Germano-silicate glass fiber containing gold nanoparticles was developed by modified chemical vapor deposition and solution doping processes. Pumping with 488 nm Argon ion laser, we firstly report on the visible to infrared photoluminescence of the gold nanoparticles embedded in the core of the germano-silicate fibers. The surface plasmon resonance absorption peak at 498.4 nm and the visible to infrared photoluminescence over the range of 600 nm approximately 1560 nm were found and explained according to the interband and intraband electronic transitions of Au atoms. The averaged quantum efficiencies of the photoluminescence at 833 nm and 1536 nm were estimated to be 5.75 x 10(-8) and 2.01 x 10(-9), respectively.