Abstract
Laser-induced structuring in nanoporous glass composites is promising for numerous emerging applications in photonics and plasmonics. Local laser irradiation activates an interplay of photo-thermo-chemical mechanisms that are extremely difficult to control. The choice of optimum laser parameters to fabricate structures with desired properties remains extremely challenging. Another challenging issue is the investigation of the properties of laser-induced buried structures. In this paper, we propose a way to control the plasmonic structures formation inside a nanoporous glass composite with doped silver/copper ions that are induced by laser irradiation. Experimental and numerical investigations both demonstrate the capacities of the procedure proving its validity and application potential. In particular, we register transmitted laser power to analyse and control the modification process. Spectral micro-analysis of the irradiated region shows a multilayer plasmonic structure inside the glass composite. Subsequently, the effective medium theory connects the measured spectral data to the numerically estimated size, concentration, and chemical composition of the secondary phase across the initial GC sample and the fabricated structure.