Thin films of SiO(2) containing gold nanoparticles were prepared by magnetron co-sputtering followed by thermal annealing. The samples were irradiated with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser to study the possibility of modifying the nanoparticle size distribution. A small, but observable increase of the mean size of the particles and of the number of larger particles was observed. The surface roughness of the films increased and ripples on the surface were formed after laser irradiation. The growth of the particles was attributed to photostimulated Ostwald ripening. The effects of the laser irradiation on the film are discussed.
