Silver nanoparticles were prepared by a focused femtosecond laser irradiation in a 5 mM AgNO3 solution in the presence of TiO2 sol. TEM analysis revealed that the size of silver nanoparticles was less than 20 rim. A mechanism for the precipitation of silver nanoparticles was proposed. Nonlinear absorptions and optical limiting properties of silver nanoparticles contained solution were also measured. It is observed that the composite material showed strong self-focused effect and significant optical limiting property. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.