The linear and nonlinear optical properties of palladium nanoparticle reinforced fluorinated ethylene polymer matrix nanocomposite were investigated in this work. Synthesized through decomposition of a palladium organometallic chemical species in the bulk of fluorinated polymer films, the composites consisted of discrete, palladium nanoparticles distributed throughout the polymer matrix. The low-intensity reflectivities were measured as a function of palladium content and compared to behavior predicted using the Tourquato-Kreibig-Fresnel (TKF) theory. Optical limiting experiments using 8 ns duration laser pulses at 1064 nm yielded a 90% reduction in transmissivity with pulse fluences of nearly 1.3 x 10(4) mJ/cm(2). (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.