Efficacy of silver nanoparticles on tuning the optical nonlinear characteristics of Sm3+ doped borate‒based glasses has been investigated comprehensively and the outcomes are provided. The nonlinear optical (NLO) attributes were retrieved using the Z‒scan technique under an ultrafast pulse excitation with the wavelength ranging from 700 nm to 1000 nm. Reverse saturable absorption (RSA), ascribed to two‒photon absorption, was realized in open aperture Z‒scan profiles whereas refraction nonlinearity of positive type due to the self‒focusing was observed in closed aperture Z‒scan data. Based on the Z‒scan results along with the figure of merit condition (higher than unity), it was identified that the silver nanoparticles embedded Sm3+ containing glass hosts are competing materials for NLO device applications to function in near‒infrared region.
