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Abstract
In recent past research on nanometal-glass hybrid composites has been the centre of attention across the globe particularly in the area of nanoscience and for the future nanotechnology. In this review, with a short historical background, its preparation by various multi-step techniques, properties and applications are briefly described. In addition, recently developed single-step in situ thermochemical reduction methodology by these authors for synthesis of various nanometal-glass hybrid nanocomposites are described in detail with their significant characteristic properties, relevant theories and applications. Here Au, Ag and Bi metals are considered and the synthesized glasses are mostly based on antimony, bismuth and phosphorus oxides. Some of them are dichroic in nature, that is, they exhibit blue to green colourations in transmitted light and brown to reddish brown colourations in reflected light. The appropriate reasons for their dichroic character are still remained unsolved. Nanometal-antimony oxide glass nanocomposites have been found to enhance the photoluminescence upconversion intensities up to 11 fold when co-doped with rare earth (RE) ions due to the plasmonic induced local field as enhanced by the effects of doped metal nanoparticles. The nanometal-glass hybrid nanocomposites, therefore, seem to be very promising for various nanophotonic applications (such as nanometal enhanced rare earth luminescence, solar cell, light emitting diode, plasmonic integrated circuit, plasmon slot waveguide, etc) that have presently emerged into a major field called ‘plasmonics’.