Formation of alkali-metal nanoparticles in alkali-silicate glasses under electron irradiation and thermal processing

Experiments and numerical simulation show that the irradiation of alkali-containing glasses using electrons at an energy of 35 keV and the subsequent thermal processing at a temperature above the vitrification point lead to the formation of spherical metal (lithium, sodium, and potassium) nanoparticles with oxide sheaths that exhibit plasmon resonances in the visible spectral range. Glasses containing two alkali metals exhibit mutual effect of metals on the formation of nanoparticles with two compositions due to the difference of ion radii and mobilities of metal ions.