Adleman, J.R.Eggert, H.A.Buse, K.Psaltis, D.2010-11-232010-11-232010-11-23200610.1364/OL.31.0004472-s2.0-33644886057https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/58163Holographic 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 μs for grating spacings of several micrometers. © 2006 Optical Society of America.text::journal::journal article::research article