Energy upconversion luminescence in neodymium-doped tellurite glass

Infrared-to-visible upconversion luminescence emission in Nd3+-doped 60TeO(2)-10GeO(2)-10K(2)O-10Li(2)O-10Nb(2)O(5) tellurite glasses under cw excitation around 800 nm is investigated. Blue (430, and 475 nm), green (5 0 nm) and yellow-orange (590 nm) energy upconversion emission owing to the P-2(1/2) --> I-4(j) (j=9/2, 11/2, 13/2 and 15/2) transitions of the Nd3+ ions, respectively, was recorded. The dependence of the upconversion intensity upon the excitation wavelength and pump power is also studied. The upconversion excitation mechanism responsible for the observed emission signals is attributed to stepwise multiphoton absorption. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Study of the most suitable new glass laser to incorporate ytterbium: alkali niobium tellurite, lead fluorborate or heavy metal oxide

Diode-pumped Yb-doped glass lasers have received considerable attention for applications such as high-power beam production or femtosecond pulses generation. In this paper, we evaluate the laser potential of three different glass families doped with Yb3+ : alkali lead fluorborate (PbO-PbF2-B2O3), heavy metal oxide (Bi2O3-PbO-Ga2O3) and niobium tellurite (TeO2-Nb2O5-K2O-Li2O). Spectroscopic properties were studied for the samples and calculations of the minimum laser pump intensity (I-min), saturation fluence (U-sat) and the theoretical limit of peak power (P-max) are also presented. A comparison of laser properties of these three different glasses and their importance is shown and analyzed. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of the addition of ZnO seeds on the electrical proprieties of ZnO-based varistors

ZnO has the characteristic of presenting an intermediate value for the effective 3 eV barrier at room temperature. ZnO ceramics are applied in high-voltage systems or circuits. Attempts were made to reduce the number of effective barriers in the system by adding large particles of ZnO to the varistor composition. This procedure reduced the breakdown field of the varistors by values up to 90% lower than those initially obtained, and produced nonlinear coefficients as low as 20. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of glass ionomer cements properties obtained from niobium silicate glasses prepared by chemical process

Glass ionomer cements (GICs) are glass and polymer composite materials. These materials currently find use in the dental field. The purpose of this work is to obtain systems based on composition 4.5SiO(2)-3Al(2)O(3)-XNb2O5-2CaO to be used in Dentistry. The systems were prepared by chemical route at 700 degrees C. The results obtained by XRD and DTA showed that all systems prepared are glasses. The structures of the obtained glasses were compared to commercial material using Al-27 and Si-29 MAS NMR. The analysis of MAS NMR spectra indicated that the systems developed and commercial material are formed by SiO4 and AlO4 linked tetrahedra. The properties of glass ionomer cements based on the glasses prepared with several niobium contents were studied. Setting and working times of the cement pastes, microhardness and diametral tensile strength were evaluated for the experimental GICs and commercial luting cements. It was concluded that setting time of the cement pastes increased with increasing niobium content of the glasses (X). The properties to the GICs such as setting time and microhardness were influenced by niobium content. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Histological evaluation of the response of apical tissues to glass ionomer and zinc oxide eugenol based sealers in dog teeth after root canal treatment

The object of the study was to compare two commercial root canal sealers: Ketac-Endo (a glass ionomer cement) and Fill Canal (a zinc oxide-eugenol cement). A total of 34 root canals from dog premolars with vital pulps were used. After instrumentation, the root canals were sealed with Ketac-Endo and Fill Canal cements using gutta-percha and a lateral condensation technique. After 270 days the animals were sacrificed with an anesthetic overdose and the maxillae and mandibles were removed and fixed in formalin for 48 h. After routine histological processing the sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and Mallory trichrome stains. Microscopic analysis revealed that Ketac-Endo cement presented better results than Fill Canal cement.

New tungstate fluorophosphate glasses

\A new class of tungstate fluorophosphate glasses was identified in the NaPO3-BaF2-WO3 ternary system. The variation of several physical properties was determined with respect to chemical composition. Characteristic temperatures, density and refractive index increase as tungsten oxide content increases. The optical transmission range and specially the energy bandgap depend of the WO3 amount. No crystallization could be observed for the Most WO3 concentrated vitreous samples (greater than or equal to20% molar). Color and optical properties of the glasses depend of the melting time because of the presence of reduced tungsten species like W5+ and W4+. In addition, photodarkening is observed in tungsten rich glass samples under UV laser illumination and this phenomenon can be reversible by heat treatment near the glass transition temperature. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Energy-transfer frequency upconversion in neodymium-sensitized praseodymium-doped PbGeO3-PbF2-CdF2 glass excited at 810 nm

Visible frequency upconversion emission through resonant energy-transfer involving neodymium and praseodymium ions in PbGeO3-PbF2-CdF2 glass excited by a semiconductor laser at 8 10 nm is investigated. Luminescence emission centered around 485, 530, 610, and 645 nm, which correspond to the P-3(0) -> H-3(4), P-3(1) + I-1(6) -> H-3(5), P-3(0) -> H-3(6) and P-1(0) -> F-3(2) transitions of praseodymium ions, respectively, are observed. The upconversion excitation of the Pr3+ ions excited-state emitting levels was accomplished by means of an ion-pair interaction involving ground-state absorption, multiphonon relaxation, and excited-state absorption of pump photons at 8 10 nm by the Nd3+ (I-4(9/2) -> H-2(9/2), F-4(5/2); F-4(3/2) -> P-2(1/2)) and direct energy-transfer to Pr3+ ((4)G(11/2) + K-2(11/2), H-3(4) -> I-4(9/2), P-3(1) + I-1(6)). The dependence of the upconversion emission intensity upon the excitation power, and neodymium concentration are also examined. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Raman scattering, differential scanning calorimetry and Nd3+ spectroscopy in alkali niobium tellurite glasses

Alkali niobium tellurite glasses have been prepared and some of their properties measured by differential scanning calorimetry and Raman scattering. The vitreous domain was established in the pseudo ternary phases diagram for the system TeO2-Nb2O5-(0.5K(2)O-0.5Li(2)O). Raman scattering shows that for samples in the TeO2 rich part of the phase diagram the vitreous structure is composed essentially of (TeO4) units connected by the vertices, as in the alpha-TeO2 crystal. The addition of alkali and niobium oxides causes depolymerization to occur with structures composed essentially of (TeO3) and (NbO6) units. Samples with the composition (mol%) 80TeO(2)-10Nb(2)O(5)-5K(2)O-5Li(2)O, stable against crystallization, were prepared containing up to 10% mol Nd3+. The addition of this oxide increases the rigidity of the vitreous network shifting characteristic temperatures to higher temperatures. For the 10% Nd3+ sample amorphous phase separation is assumed to exist from the observation of two glass transition temperatures. Spectroscopic properties such as Judd-Ofelt Omega(lambda) intensity parameters, radiative emission probabilities, and induced emission cross sections were calculated. From these results and also from the emission quenching observed as a function of Nd3+ concentration, we suggest that these glasses could be utilized in optical amplifying devices. (C) 1999 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Nuclear magnetic relaxation of F-19 in fluoride glasses

Temperature and frequency dependence of the F-19 nuclear spin relaxation of the fluoroindate glass, 40InF(3)-20ZnF(2)- 20SrF(2)-2GaF(3)-2NaF-16BaF(2) and the fluorozirconate glass, 50ZrF(4)-20BaF(2)-21LiF-5LaF(3)-4AlF(3); are reported. Measurements were undertaken on pure and Gd3+ doped samples, in the temperature range of 185-1000 K, covering the region below and above the glass transition temperature, T-g. The temperature and frequency dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation rate, T-1(-1), measured in the glassy state at temperature <300 K, is less than the observed dependence at higher temperatures. At temperatures >T-g, the fluorine mobility increases, leading to a more efficient spins lattice relaxation process. Activation energies, for F- motion, are 0.8 eV for the fluoroindate glass and 1 eV for the fluorozirconate glass. The addition of Gd3+ paramagnetic impurities;at 0.1-wt%, does not alter the temperature and frequency dependence of T-1(-1), but increases its magnitude more than one order of magnitude. At temperatures <400 K, the spin-spin relaxation time, T-2(-1), measured for all samples, is determined by the rigid-lattice nuclear dipole-dipole coupling, and it is temperature independent within the accuracy of the measurements. Results obtained for the pure glass, at temperatures >400 K, show that T-2(-1) decreases monotonically as the temperature increases. This decrease is explained as a consequence of the motional narrowing effect caused by the onset of the diffusive motion of the F- ions, with an activation energy around 0.8 eV. For the doped samples, the hyperfine interaction with the paramagnetic impurities is most effective in the relaxation of the nuclear spin, causing an increase in the T(2)(-1)s observed at temperatures >600 K. (C) 1999 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.