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Plasmonic nanoparticles embedded into a solid matrix could play crucial role in laser-matter interactions. In this study, excess energy creation was observed during the single-shot irradiation of a polymer matrix containing plasmonic gold nanorods, resonant to the laser wavelength, with a high intensity femtosecond laser pulse. This effect was manifested in a 7-fold rise in the crater volume for a 1.7-fold increase of the laser intensity, and was absent in the pure polymer without the gold doping. It occurred at laser intensities > 1.5 x 1017 W/cm2, being the vanishing threshold of plasma mirror formation, resulting in a more than 80% increase of the amount of laser light entering the target. This threshold was found to be critical for the plasmonic effect of gold nanoantennas tuned to the wavelength of the laser on the crater formation., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures

The bonding configuration of the crater walls formed in urethane dimethacrylate-based polymer doped with plasmonic gold nanorods upon irradiation with a single-shot high-energy femtosecond laser pulse has been studied by Raman spectroscopy. New Raman bands were detected in the 2000-2500 cm-1 region of the Raman spectrum the intensities of which showed strong dependence on the concentration of the plasmonic nanoparticles and the energy of the laser pulse. Based on model calculations of the Raman frequencies of the polymer these peaks were attributed to carbon-deuterium and nitrogen-deuterium vibrations. Their appearance might indicate the occurrence of nuclear reactions in the polymer excited by the ultra-strong laser field amplified by the plasmonic nanoparticles., Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures