A Multiwavelength Study of the Intracluster Medium and the Characterization of the Multiwavelength Sub/millimeter Inductance Camera

The first part of this thesis combines Bolocam observations of the thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZ) effect at 140 GHz with X-ray observations from Chandra, strong lensing data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and weak lensing data from HST and Subaru to constrain parametric models for the distribution of dark and baryonic matter in a sample of six massive, dynamically relaxed galaxy clusters. For five of the six clusters, the full multiwavelength dataset is well described by a relatively simple model that assumes spherical symmetry, hydrostatic equilibrium, and entirely thermal pressure support. The multiwavelength analysis yields considerably better constraints on the total mass and concentration compared to analysis of any one dataset individually. The subsample of five galaxy clusters is used to place an upper limit on the fraction of pressure support in the intracluster medium (ICM) due to nonthermal processes, such as turbulent and bulk flow of the gas. We constrain the nonthermal pressure fraction at r500c to be less than 0.11 at 95% confidence, where r500c refers to radius at which the average enclosed density is 500 times the critical density of the Universe. This is in tension with state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations, which predict a nonthermal pressure fraction of approximately 0.25 at r500c for the clusters in this sample.

The second part of this thesis focuses on the characterization of the Multiwavelength Sub/millimeter Inductance Camera (MUSIC), a photometric imaging camera that was commissioned at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) in 2012. MUSIC is designed to have a 14 arcminute, diffraction-limited field of view populated with 576 spatial pixels that are simultaneously sensitive to four bands at 150, 220, 290, and 350 GHz. It is well-suited for studies of dusty star forming galaxies, galaxy clusters via the SZ Effect, and galactic star formation. MUSIC employs a number of novel detector technologies: broadband phased-arrays of slot dipole antennas for beam formation, on-chip lumped element filters for band definition, and Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) for transduction of incoming light to electric signal. MKIDs are superconducting micro-resonators coupled to a feedline. Incoming light breaks apart Cooper pairs in the superconductor, causing a change in the quality factor and frequency of the resonator. This is read out as amplitude and phase modulation of a microwave probe signal centered on the resonant frequency. By tuning each resonator to a slightly different frequency and sending out a superposition of probe signals, hundreds of detectors can be read out on a single feedline. This natural capability for large scale, frequency domain multiplexing combined with relatively simple fabrication makes MKIDs a promising low temperature detector for future kilopixel sub/millimeter instruments. There is also considerable interest in using MKIDs for optical through near-infrared spectrophotometry due to their fast microsecond response time and modest energy resolution. In order to optimize the MKID design to obtain suitable performance for any particular application, it is critical to have a well-understood physical model for the detectors and the sources of noise to which they are susceptible. MUSIC has collected many hours of on-sky data with over 1000 MKIDs. This work studies the performance of the detectors in the context of one such physical model. Chapter 2 describes the theoretical model for the responsivity and noise of MKIDs. Chapter 3 outlines the set of measurements used to calibrate this model for the MUSIC detectors. Chapter 4 presents the resulting estimates of the spectral response, optical efficiency, and on-sky loading. The measured detector response to Uranus is compared to the calibrated model prediction in order to determine how well the model describes the propagation of signal through the full instrument. Chapter 5 examines the noise present in the detector timestreams during recent science observations. Noise due to fluctuations in atmospheric emission dominate at long timescales (less than 0.5 Hz). Fluctuations in the amplitude and phase of the microwave probe signal due to the readout electronics contribute significant 1/f and drift-type noise at shorter timescales. The atmospheric noise is removed by creating a template for the fluctuations in atmospheric emission from weighted averages of the detector timestreams. The electronics noise is removed by using probe signals centered off-resonance to construct templates for the amplitude and phase fluctuations. The algorithms that perform the atmospheric and electronic noise removal are described. After removal, we find good agreement between the observed residual noise and our expectation for intrinsic detector noise over a significant fraction of the signal bandwidth.

Deep near-infrared spectroscopy of high-redshift galaxies: the physical growth of passive systems

The assembly history of massive galaxies is one of the most important aspects of galaxy formation and evolution. Although we have a broad idea of what physical processes govern the early phases of galaxy evolution, there are still many open questions. In this thesis I demonstrate the crucial role that spectroscopy can play in a physical understanding of galaxy evolution. I present deep near-infrared spectroscopy for a sample of high-redshift galaxies, from which I derive important physical properties and their evolution with cosmic time. I take advantage of the recent arrival of efficient near-infrared detectors to target the rest-frame optical spectra of z > 1 galaxies, from which many physical quantities can be derived. After illustrating the applications of near-infrared deep spectroscopy with a study of star-forming galaxies, I focus on the evolution of massive quiescent systems.

Most of this thesis is based on two samples collected at the W. M. Keck Observatory that represent a significant step forward in the spectroscopic study of z > 1 quiescent galaxies. All previous spectroscopic samples at this redshift were either limited to a few objects, or much shallower in terms of depth. Our first sample is composed of 56 quiescent galaxies at 1 < z < 1.6 collected using the upgraded red arm of the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS). The second consists of 24 deep spectra of 1.5 < z < 2.5 quiescent objects observed with the Multi-Object Spectrometer For Infra-Red Exploration (MOSFIRE). Together, these spectra span the critical epoch 1 < z < 2.5, where most of the red sequence is formed, and where the sizes of quiescent systems are observed to increase significantly.

We measure stellar velocity dispersions and dynamical masses for the largest number of z > 1 quiescent galaxies to date. By assuming that the velocity dispersion of a massive galaxy does not change throughout its lifetime, as suggested by theoretical studies, we match galaxies in the local universe with their high-redshift progenitors. This allows us to derive the physical growth in mass and size experienced by individual systems, which represents a substantial advance over photometric inferences based on the overall galaxy population. We find a significant physical growth among quiescent galaxies over 0 < z < 2.5 and, by comparing the slope of growth in the mass-size plane dlogR_e/dlogM_∗ with the results of numerical simulations, we can constrain the physical process responsible for the evolution. Our results show that the slope of growth becomes steeper at higher redshifts, yet is broadly consistent with minor mergers being the main process by which individual objects evolve in mass and size.

By fitting stellar population models to the observed spectroscopy and photometry we derive reliable ages and other stellar population properties. We show that the addition of the spectroscopic data helps break the degeneracy between age and dust extinction, and yields significantly more robust results compared to fitting models to the photometry alone. We detect a clear relation between size and age, where larger galaxies are younger. Therefore, over time the average size of the quiescent population will increase because of the contribution of large galaxies recently arrived to the red sequence. This effect, called progenitor bias, is different from the physical size growth discussed above, but represents another contribution to the observed difference between the typical sizes of low- and high-redshift quiescent galaxies. By reconstructing the evolution of the red sequence starting at z ∼ 1.25 and using our stellar population histories to infer the past behavior to z ∼ 2, we demonstrate that progenitor bias accounts for only half of the observed growth of the population. The remaining size evolution must be due to physical growth of individual systems, in agreement with our dynamical study.

Finally, we use the stellar population properties to explore the earliest periods which led to the formation of massive quiescent galaxies. We find tentative evidence for two channels of star formation quenching, which suggests the existence of two independent physical mechanisms. We also detect a mass downsizing, where more massive galaxies form at higher redshift, and then evolve passively. By analyzing in depth the star formation history of the brightest object at z > 2 in our sample, we are able to put constraints on the quenching timescale and on the properties of its progenitor.

A consistent picture emerges from our analyses: massive galaxies form at very early epochs, are quenched on short timescales, and then evolve passively. The evolution is passive in the sense that no new stars are formed, but significant mass and size growth is achieved by accreting smaller, gas-poor systems. At the same time the population of quiescent galaxies grows in number due to the quenching of larger star-forming galaxies. This picture is in agreement with other observational studies, such as measurements of the merger rate and analyses of galaxy evolution at fixed number density.

Solubility and Diffusivity of Water in Lunar Basalt, and Chemical Zonation in Olivine-Hosted Melt Inclusions

I report the solubility and diffusivity of water in lunar basalt and an iron-free basaltic analogue at 1 atm and 1350 °C. Such parameters are critical for understanding the degassing histories of lunar pyroclastic glasses. Solubility experiments have been conducted over a range of fO₂ conditions from three log units below to five log units above the iron-wüstite buffer (IW) and over a range of pH₂/pH₂O from 0.03 to 24. Quenched experimental glasses were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and secondary ionization mass spectrometry (SIMS) and were found to contain up to ~420 ppm water. Results demonstrate that, under the conditions of our experiments: (1) hydroxyl is the only H-bearing species detected by FTIR; (2) the solubility of water is proportional to the square root of pH₂O in the furnace atmosphere and is independent of fO₂ and pH₂/pH₂O; (3) the solubility of water is very similar in both melt compositions; (4) the concentration of H₂ in our iron-free experiments is <3 ppm, even at oxygen fugacities as low as IW-2.3 and pH₂/pH₂O as high as 24; and (5) SIMS analyses of water in iron-rich glasses equilibrated under variable fO₂ conditions can be strongly influenced by matrix effects, even when the concentrations of water in the glasses are low. Our results can be used to constrain the entrapment pressure of the lunar melt inclusions of Hauri et al. (2011).

Diffusion experiments were conducted over a range of fO₂ conditions from IW-2.2 to IW+6.7 and over a range of pH₂/pH₂O from nominally zero to ~10. The water concentrations measured in our quenched experimental glasses by SIMS and FTIR vary from a few ppm to ~430 ppm. Water concentration gradients are well described by models in which the diffusivity of water (D^*_water) is assumed to be constant. The relationship between D^*_water and water concentration is well described by a modified speciation model (Ni et al. 2012) in which both molecular water and hydroxyl are allowed to diffuse. The success of this modified speciation model for describing our results suggests that we have resolved the diffusivity of hydroxyl in basaltic melt for the first time. Best-fit values of D^*_water for our experiments on lunar basalt vary within a factor of ~2 over a range of pH₂/pH₂O from 0.007 to 9.7, a range of fO₂ from IW-2.2 to IW+4.9, and a water concentration range from ~80 ppm to ~280 ppm. The relative insensitivity of our best-fit values of D^*_water to variations in pH₂ suggests that H₂ diffusion was not significant during degassing of the lunar glasses of Saal et al. (2008). D^*_water during dehydration and hydration in H₂/CO₂ gas mixtures are approximately the same, which supports an equilibrium boundary condition for these experiments. However, dehydration experiments into CO₂ and CO/CO₂ gas mixtures leave some scope for the importance of kinetics during dehydration into H-free environments. The value of D^*_water chosen by Saal et al. (2008) for modeling the diffusive degassing of the lunar volcanic glasses is within a factor of three of our measured value in our lunar basaltic melt at 1350 °C.

In Chapter 4 of this thesis, I document significant zonation in major, minor, trace, and volatile elements in naturally glassy olivine-hosted melt inclusions from the Siqueiros Fracture Zone and the Galapagos Islands. Components with a higher concentration in the host olivine than in the melt (MgO, FeO, Cr₂O₃, and MnO) are depleted at the edges of the zoned melt inclusions relative to their centers, whereas except for CaO, H₂O, and F, components with a lower concentration in the host olivine than in the melt (Al₂O₃, SiO₂, Na₂O, K₂O, TiO₂, S, and Cl) are enriched near the melt inclusion edges. This zonation is due to formation of an olivine-depleted boundary layer in the adjacent melt in response to cooling and crystallization of olivine on the walls of the melt inclusions concurrent with diffusive propagation of the boundary layer toward the inclusion center.

Concentration profiles of some components in the melt inclusions exhibit multicomponent diffusion effects such as uphill diffusion (CaO, FeO) or slowing of the diffusion of typically rapidly diffusing components (Na₂O, K₂O) by coupling to slow diffusing components such as SiO₂ and Al₂O₃. Concentrations of H2O and F decrease towards the edges of some of the Siqueiros melt inclusions, suggesting either that these components have been lost from the inclusions into the host olivine late in their cooling histories and/or that these components are exhibiting multicomponent diffusion effects.

A model has been developed of the time-dependent evolution of MgO concentration profiles in melt inclusions due to simultaneous depletion of MgO at the inclusion walls due to olivine growth and diffusion of MgO in the melt inclusions in response to this depletion. Observed concentration profiles were fit to this model to constrain their thermal histories. Cooling rates determined by a single-stage linear cooling model are 150–13,000 °C hr^-1 from the liquidus down to ~1000 °C, consistent with previously determined cooling rates for basaltic glasses; compositional trends with melt inclusion size observed in the Siqueiros melt inclusions are described well by this simple single-stage linear cooling model. Despite the overall success of the modeling of MgO concentration profiles using a single-stage cooling history, MgO concentration profiles in some melt inclusions are better fit by a two-stage cooling history with a slower-cooling first stage followed by a faster-cooling second stage; the inferred total duration of cooling from the liquidus down to ~1000 °C is 40 s to just over one hour.

Based on our observations and models, compositions of zoned melt inclusions (even if measured at the centers of the inclusions) will typically have been diffusively fractionated relative to the initially trapped melt; for such inclusions, the initial composition cannot be simply reconstructed based on olivine-addition calculations, so caution should be exercised in application of such reconstructions to correct for post-entrapment crystallization of olivine on inclusion walls. Off-center analyses of a melt inclusion can also give results significantly fractionated relative to simple olivine crystallization.

All melt inclusions from the Siqueiros and Galapagos sample suites exhibit zoning profiles, and this feature may be nearly universal in glassy, olivine-hosted inclusions. If so, zoning profiles in melt inclusions could be widely useful to constrain late-stage syneruptive processes and as natural diffusion experiments.

Advanced Monte Carlo Simulation and Machine Learning for Frequency Domain Optical Coherence Tomography

Optical Coherence Tomography(OCT) is a popular, rapidly growing imaging technique with an increasing number of bio-medical applications due to its noninvasive nature. However, there are three major challenges in understanding and improving an OCT system: (1) Obtaining an OCT image is not easy. It either takes a real medical experiment or requires days of computer simulation. Without much data, it is difficult to study the physical processes underlying OCT imaging of different objects simply because there aren't many imaged objects. (2) Interpretation of an OCT image is also hard. This challenge is more profound than it appears. For instance, it would require a trained expert to tell from an OCT image of human skin whether there is a lesion or not. This is expensive in its own right, but even the expert cannot be sure about the exact size of the lesion or the width of the various skin layers. The take-away message is that analyzing an OCT image even from a high level would usually require a trained expert, and pixel-level interpretation is simply unrealistic. The reason is simple: we have OCT images but not their underlying ground-truth structure, so there is nothing to learn from. (3) The imaging depth of OCT is very limited (millimeter or sub-millimeter on human tissues). While OCT utilizes infrared light for illumination to stay noninvasive, the downside of this is that photons at such long wavelengths can only penetrate a limited depth into the tissue before getting back-scattered. To image a particular region of a tissue, photons first need to reach that region. As a result, OCT signals from deeper regions of the tissue are both weak (since few photons reached there) and distorted (due to multiple scatterings of the contributing photons). This fact alone makes OCT images very hard to interpret.

This thesis addresses the above challenges by successfully developing an advanced Monte Carlo simulation platform which is 10000 times faster than the state-of-the-art simulator in the literature, bringing down the simulation time from 360 hours to a single minute. This powerful simulation tool not only enables us to efficiently generate as many OCT images of objects with arbitrary structure and shape as we want on a common desktop computer, but it also provides us the underlying ground-truth of the simulated images at the same time because we dictate them at the beginning of the simulation. This is one of the key contributions of this thesis. What allows us to build such a powerful simulation tool includes a thorough understanding of the signal formation process, clever implementation of the importance sampling/photon splitting procedure, efficient use of a voxel-based mesh system in determining photon-mesh interception, and a parallel computation of different A-scans that consist a full OCT image, among other programming and mathematical tricks, which will be explained in detail later in the thesis.

Next we aim at the inverse problem: given an OCT image, predict/reconstruct its ground-truth structure on a pixel level. By solving this problem we would be able to interpret an OCT image completely and precisely without the help from a trained expert. It turns out that we can do much better. For simple structures we are able to reconstruct the ground-truth of an OCT image more than 98% correctly, and for more complicated structures (e.g., a multi-layered brain structure) we are looking at 93%. We achieved this through extensive uses of Machine Learning. The success of the Monte Carlo simulation already puts us in a great position by providing us with a great deal of data (effectively unlimited), in the form of (image, truth) pairs. Through a transformation of the high-dimensional response variable, we convert the learning task into a multi-output multi-class classification problem and a multi-output regression problem. We then build a hierarchy architecture of machine learning models (committee of experts) and train different parts of the architecture with specifically designed data sets. In prediction, an unseen OCT image first goes through a classification model to determine its structure (e.g., the number and the types of layers present in the image); then the image is handed to a regression model that is trained specifically for that particular structure to predict the length of the different layers and by doing so reconstruct the ground-truth of the image. We also demonstrate that ideas from Deep Learning can be useful to further improve the performance.

It is worth pointing out that solving the inverse problem automatically improves the imaging depth, since previously the lower half of an OCT image (i.e., greater depth) can be hardly seen but now becomes fully resolved. Interestingly, although OCT signals consisting the lower half of the image are weak, messy, and uninterpretable to human eyes, they still carry enough information which when fed into a well-trained machine learning model spits out precisely the true structure of the object being imaged. This is just another case where Artificial Intelligence (AI) outperforms human. To the best knowledge of the author, this thesis is not only a success but also the first attempt to reconstruct an OCT image at a pixel level. To even give a try on this kind of task, it would require fully annotated OCT images and a lot of them (hundreds or even thousands). This is clearly impossible without a powerful simulation tool like the one developed in this thesis.

Study of near-infrared nonvolatile two-center holographic recording in LiNbO3:Fe:Rh crystal

The near-infrared nonvolatile holographic recording has been realized in a doubly doped LiNbO3:Fe:Rh crystal by the traditional two-center holographic recording scheme, for the first time. The recording performance of this crystal has been investigated by recording with 633 nm red light, 752 nm red light and 799 nm near-infrared light and sensitizing with 405 nm purple light. The experimental results show that, co-doped with Fe and Rh, the near-infrared absorption and the photovoltaic coefficient of shallow trap Fe are enhanced in this LiNbO3:Fe:Rh crystal, compared with other doubly doped LiNbO3 crystals Such as LiNbO3:Fe:Mn. It is also found that the sensitizing light intensity affects the near-infrared recording sensitivity in a different way than two-center holographic recording with shorter wavelength, and the origin of experimental results is analyzed. (C) 2007 Elsevier GrnbH. All rights reserved.

Efeito da temperatura de incubação na cinética e no equilíbrio da biossorção do cádmio por Sargassum filipendula

O uso de biomassas para biossorção de metais pesados é bem documentado na literatura e vários tipos de espécies de microrganismos e algas já foram testados. A maior parte destes trabalhos foi realizada com biomassa seca para prevenir qualquer resposta metabólica indesejável. Vários estudos na literatura sugerem o uso de biomassa seca sobre condições moderadas, tais como secagem ao sol; por outro lado, vários trabalhos recomendam a faixa de 313K a 353K para garantir completa inativação da biomassa. O efeito da biomassa seca ao sol a 303K e seca a 333K em estufa na remoção de Cd2+ é aqui reportado. A avaliação dos resultados foi baseada na cinética e capacidade de remoção do metal pela alga Sargassum filipendula. Os resultados indicam que a adsorção máxima de metal não foi notadamente reduzida quando a biomassa seca em estufa foi usada, para concentrações de cádmio na faixa de 10,0 a 500,0 mg L-1. O estudo cinético realizado indicou que o modelo de pseudo segunda ordem ajustou melhor os dados experimentais, tanto para uma solução diluída (10 mg L-1) quanto para a concentrada (100 mg L-1). Em ambos os casos, os efeitos da secagem em estufa, a 60C refletiu-se suavemente na remoção do metal. Os dados experimentais foram melhor ajustados pelo modelo de Langmuir em comparação com o modelo de Freundlich. Análises termogravimétricas mostraram que não havia dano estrutural no biossorvente devido à secagem em estufa. O espectro de infravermelho não indicou diferença entre a biomassa in natura e seca. O efeito da temperatura na biossorção do metal significativo na faixa de 303K a 328K, refletindo-se na capacidade de remoção do cádmio

Metallic thin fi lms on stepped surfaces: lateral scattering of quantum well states

Quantum well states of Ag films grown on stepped Au(111) surfaces are shown to undergo lateral scattering, in analogy with surface states of vicinal Ag(111). Applying angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy we observe quantum well bands with zone-folding and gap openings driven by surface/interface step lattice scattering. Experiments performed on a curved Au(111) substrate allow us to determine a subtle terrace-size effect, i.e., a fine step-density-dependent upward shift of quantum well bands. This energy shift is explained as mainly due to the periodically stepped crystal potential offset at the interface side of the film. Finally, the surface state of the stepped Ag film is analyzed with both photoemission and scanning tunneling microscopy. We observe that the stepped film interface also affects the surface state energy, which exhibits a larger terrace-size effect compared to surface states of bulk vicinal Ag(111) crystals

Photoinduced effects in amorphous Ge-Se films

With light illumination from an Ar ion laser, the photoinduced changes in vacuum evaporated amorphous GeSe2 films; were investigated with the X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared absorption (IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmitting electron microscope (TEM) and transmittance spectra analysis. It was observed that the optical transmittance edges of films shifted to shorter wavelength according to annealing and light illumination and the shift in well-annealed films could be recovered by annealing at 200 degrees C for 1 h in Ar air. The magnitude of shift increased with the increase of the intensity of illumination light and the illumination time. By sides, photoinduced crystallization was also observed in the exposed regions of GeSe2 films and more of it was observed with stronger intensity of illumination light.

Infrared-to-visible upconversion emissions in Er3+ doped TeO2-based oxyhalide glasses

The fluorescence and up-conversion spectral properties of Er3+-doped TeO2-ZnO and TeO2-ZnO-PbCl2 glasses suitable for developing optical fiber amplifier and laser have been fabricate and characterized. Strong green (around 527-550 nm) and red (around 661 nm) up-conversion emissions under 977 nm laser diode excitation were investigated, corresponding to H-2(11/2), S-4(3/2), --> I-4(15/2) and F-4(9/2) --> I-4(15/2) transitions of Er3+ ions respectively, have been observed and the involved mechanisms have been explained. The dependence of up-converted fluorescence intensity versus laser power confirm that two-photons contribute to up-conversion of the green-red emissions. The novelty of this kind of optical material has been its ability in resisting devitrification, and its promising optical properties strongly encourage for their further development as the rare-earth doped optical fiber amplifiers and upconversion fiber laser systems.

Near infrared broadband emission from bismuth-dysprosium codoped chalcohalide glasses

We investigate the broadband infrared emission of bismuth doped and bismuth/dysprosium codoped chalcohalide glasses. It is found that the bismuth/dysprosium codoping can drastically enhance the fluorescence as compared with either bismuth or dysprosium doped glasses. Meanwhile, the full width at half maximum of bismuth/dysprosium codoped glasses is over 170 nm, which is the largest value among all the reported rare-earth doped chalcohalide glasses. An ideal way for energy consumption between bismuth and dysprosium ions is supposed. Such improved gain spectra of both bismuth and dysprosium ions may have potential applications in developing broadband fibre amplifiers.

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.

Broadband near-infrared emission from transparent Ni2+-doped silicate glass ceramics

Transparent Ni2+-doped MgO-Al2O3-TiO2-SiO2 glass ceramics were prepared, and the optical properties of Ni2+-doped glass ceramics were investigated. Broadband emission centered at 1320 nm was observed by 980 nm excitation. The longer wavelength luminescence compared with Ni2+-doped Li2O-Ga2O3-SiO2 glass ceramics is ascribed to the low crystal field hold by Ni2+ in MgO-Al2O3-TiO2-SiO2 glass ceramics. The change in optical signals at the telecommunication bands with or without 980 nm excitation was also measured when the seed beam passes through the bulk gain host.(C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.