Silver nanoparticles are synthesized in polymethylmethacrylate by 30 keV Ag+ ion implantation with high fluences. The implantation is accompanied by structural and compositional evolution of the polymer as well as sputtering. The latter causes towering of the shallow nucleated Ag nanoparticles above the surface. The synthesized nanoparticles can be split into two groups: (i) located at the surface and (ii) fully embedded in the shallow layer. These two groups provide corresponding spectral bands related to localized surface plasmon resonance. The bands demonstrate considerable intensity making the synthesized composites promising for plasmonic applications. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015, 53, 664-672