Holographic grating formation in a colloidal suspension of silver nanoparticles.

Holographic gratings are recorded in colloidal suspensions of silver nanoparticles by utilizing interfering nanosecond pulses. The diffraction efficiency is measured with continuous-wave light. An instantaneous response together with a transient grating are observed: the nanoparticles absorb the pump light and heat up. Heat is transferred to the solvent, and a delayed thermal grating appears. The final decay time constant of this grating depends quadratically on the period length and has a typical value of 1 micros for grating spacings of several micrometers.