Modified porous silica antireflective coatings with laser damage resistance for Ti:sapphire

Porous SiO2 antireflective (AR) coatings are prepared from the colloidal silica solution modified with methyltriethoxysilane (MTES) based on the sol-gel route. The viscosity of modified silica suspensions changes but their stability keeps when MTES is introduced. The refractive indices of modified coatings vary little after bake treatment from 100 to 150 Celsius. The modified silica coatings on Ti:sapphire crystal, owning good homogeneity, display prominent antireflective effect within the laser output waveband (750-850 nm) of Ti:sapphire lasers, with average transmission above 98.6%, and own laser induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) of more than 2.2 J/cm2 at 800 nm with the pulse duration of 300 ps.

Write-once blue laser recording using silicon doped SbOx thin films prepared by reactive dc-magnetron sputtering

Si:SbOx films have been deposited by reactive dc-magnetron sputtering from a Sb target with Si chips attached in Ar + O-2 with the relative O-2 content 7%. The as-deposited films contained Sb metal, Sb2O3, SiO, Si2O3 and SiO2. The crystallization of Sb was responsible for the changes of optical properties of the films. The results of the blue laser recording test showed that the films had good writing sensitivity for blue laser beam (406.7 nm), and the recording marks were still clear even if the films were deposited in air 60 days, which demonstrated that doping silicon in SbOx films can improve the stability of SbOx films. High reflectivity contrast of about 36% was obtained at a writing power 6 mW and writing pulse width 300 ns. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Numerical and experimental analysis on green laser crystallization of amorphous silicon thin films

The effect of laser fluence on the crystallization of amorphous silicon irradiated by a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser is studied both theoretically and experimentally. An effective numerical model is set up to predict the melting threshold and the optimized laser fluence for the crystallization of 200-nm-thick amorphous silicon. The variation of the temperature distribution with time and the melt depth is analyzed. Besides the model, the Raman spectra of thin films treated with different fluences are measured to confirm the phase transition and to determine the optimized fluence. The calculating results accord well with those obtained from the experimental data in this research. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intense greeen upconversion luminescence in Er3+: Yb3+ codoped fluorophosphate glass ceramic containing SrTe5O11 nanocrystals

Er3+:Yb3+ codoped tellurite-fluorophosphate (TFP) glass ceramic exhibits much stronger upconversion luminescence. The intensity of the 540 nm green light and 651 nm red light of the TFP glass ceramic is 120 times and 44 times stronger than that of the fluorophospahte (FP) glass, respectively. XRD analysis shows that the nanocrystal in TFP glass ceramic is SrTe5O11. TFP glass ceramic also displays much higher upconversion fluorescence lifetime and crystallization stability. The narrow and strong peak at 540 nm is very ideal for practical upconversion luminescence realization. This work is a new trial for exploring non-PbF2 involved nanocrystal upconversion glass ceramics.

Ultrabroadband infrared luminescence and optical amplification in bismuth-doped germanosilicate glass

This letter reports the ultrabroadband infrared luminescence from 1000- to 1700-nm wavelength range and demonstrate optical amplification at the second optical communication window in a novel bismuth-doped germanosilicate glass. The full-width at half-maximum of the luminescence is about 300 mn and the optical gain is larger than 1.37 within the wavelength region from 1272 to 1348 nm with pump power 0.97 W. This material could be useful to fabricate ultrabroadband optical fiber amplifiers.

Effects of melting temperature on the broadband infrared luminescence of bi-doped and Bi/Dy co-doped chalcohalide glasses

Bismuth (Bi)-doped and Bi/Dy co-doped chalcohalide glasses are investigated as promising materials for amplifiers in optical communication. The samples synthesized at lower melting temperatures (MTs) are characterized by more intensified infrared emissions. With respect to the redox process of a liquid mixture at different MTs, we attribute an emission at 1230 nm to low-valent Bi ions. The lower MT favors the formation of LVB ions, i.e. Bi+ or Bi2+, while the higher MT promotes the production of higher-valent Bi ions Bi3+. An enhanced broadband infrared luminescence with the full-width at half-maximum over 200 nm is achieved from the present Bi/Dy co-doped chalcohalide glasses.

Intense infrared luminescence in transparent glass-ceramics containing beta-Ga2O3 : Ni2+ nanocrystals

Transparent glass-ceramics containing beta-Ga2O3:Ni2+ nanocrystals were synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and electron energy loss spectroscopy. Intense broad-band luminescence centering at 1200 nm was observed when the sample was excited by a diode laser at 980 nm. The room-temperature fluorescent lifetime was 665 mu s, which is longer than the Ni2+-doped ZnAl2O4 and LiGa5O8 glass-ceramics and is also comparable to the Ni2+-doped LiGa5O8 single crystal. The intense infrared luminescence with long fluorescent lifetime may be ascribed to the high crystal field hold by Ni2+ and the moderate lattice phonon energy of beta-Ga2O3. The excellent optical properties of this novel material indicate that it might be a promising candidate for broad-band amplifiers and room-temperature tunable lasers.

Mechanisms of Yb3+ sensitization to Tm3+ for blue upconversion luminescence in fluorophosphate glass

The sensitization mechanisms of Yb3+ to Tm3+ for the blue upconversion luminescence in fluorophosphate glass were studied. Two different mechanisms exist in the sensitization. One is the sequential sensitization that Tm3+ is excited from H-3(6) to (1)G(4) through absorbing three photons transferred from Yb3+ one by one. Another is the cooperative sensitization that two Yb3+ ions form a couple cluster firstly, and then the couple cluster Yb3+ ions transfer their energy to Tm3+ and excite it to (1)G(4). With the increment of the concentration of Yb3+ ions, the sequential sensitization becomes weak and the cooperative sensitization becomes intense, and the transformation trend of sensitization mechanism with the increment of Yb3+ concentration can be clarified by the introduction of Th3+ ions in the glass. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tuning the Eu luminescence in glass materials synthesized in air by adjusting glass compositions

The doped Eu3+ ions can be partly reduced to Eu2+ in a series of MO-B2O3: Eu (M=Ba, Sr, Ca) glasses synthesized in air atmosphere, but not in the 12CaO-7Al(2)O(3): Eu glass. The different redox-behavior of Eu ions in these two glass systems is attributed to the different host optical basicity. It is found that a lower valence state of Eu2+ is more favorable in acidic glasses, which have lower optical basicities. A notion of the critical value of optical basicity is introduced empirically, which can be used as a guide for the selection of glass composition suitable to incorporate Eu2+ for luminescence. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.