The influence of annealing time and of the silver over polymer ratio on the optical properties of the silver nanoparticles embedded in a poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix has been analyzed by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the visible/near-infrared spectral domains. The complex refractive index shows a localized absorption near 420 nm which can be attributed to localized surface plasmons. An atomic force microscopy topographic analysis shows that the particles were nearly spherical with an average size less than 20 nm, as confirmed by optical transmission measurements with polarized light. The size of the particles and their number respectively decreased and increased as the annealing time of the film increased, yielding a plasmon absorption band whose intensity is correlated to the silver nanoparticles density, estimated from their nearest-neighbour distance. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.