Optical confinement of a laser radiation in the 3.8–4.2 μm range in a composite material containing silver nanoparticles

The results of experiments on the nonlinear optical confinement of a pulsed 3.8–4.2 μm laser radiation in a composite comprising a silver-halide-based dielectric matrix containing dispersed silver nanoparticles are presented. It is shown that, for a laser pulse duration of 250 ns, the energy threshold for the laser radiation confinement is 5 mJ/cm 2 and the dynamic confinement range exceeds 10.