Photoluminescence of undoped and B-doped ZnO in silicate glasses

Photoluminescence of undoped and B-doped ZnO in silicate glasses was investigated by varying the concentration of ZnO (3550 mol%) and B dopant (0-10 mol%) in the glass matrices. The broad and intense near band edge emissions were observed while the visible light emission was very weak. UV luminescence in all samples was red-shifted relative to the exciton transition in bulk ZnO and enhanced by decreased ZnO concentration due to higher degree of structural integrity and the lower aggregation degree of ZnO. Donor B dopant played the double roles of filling conduction bands to broaden band gap when its concentration was lower than 5 mol%, and emerging with conduction bands to narrow the gap when B dopant exceeded this value. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Energy transfer between Cr3+ and Ni2+ in transparent silicate glass ceramics containing Cr3+/Ni2+ co-doped ZnAl2O4 nanocrystals

The emission intensity of Ni2+ at 1200 nm in transparent ZnO-Al2O3-SiO2 glass ceramics containing ZnAl2O4 nanocrystals is improved approximately 8 times by Cr3+ codoping with 532 nm excitation. This enhanced emission could be attributed to an efficient energy transfer from Cr3+ to Ni2+, which is confirmed by time-resolved emission spectra. The energy transfer efficiency is estimated to be 57% and the energy transfer mechanism is also discussed. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.

Enhanced broadband near-infrared luminescence from transparent Yb 3+/Ni2+ codoped silicate glass ceramics

The near-infrared emission intensity of Ni2+ in Yb3+/Ni2+ codoped transparent MgO-Al2O3-Ga2O3-SiO2-TiO2 glass ceramics could be enhanced up to 4.4 times via energy transfer from Yb3+ to Ni2+ in nanocrystals. The best Yb2O3 concentration was about 1.00 mol%. For the Yb3+/Ni2+ codoped glass ceramic with 1.00 mol% Yb2O3, a broadband near-infrared emission centered at 1265 nm with full width at half maximum of about 300 nm and lifetime of about 220 mu s was observed. The energy transfer mechanism was also discussed. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.

Enhanced broadband near-infrared luminescence in transparent silicate glass ceramics containing Yb3+ ions and Ni2+-doped Li Ga5 O8 nanocrystals

Spectral properties of Yb3+/Ni2+ codoped transparent silicate glass ceramics containing LiGa5O8 nanocrystals were investigated. The near-infrared emission intensity of Ni2+ was largely increased with Yb3+ codoping due to Yb3+-> Ni2+ energy transfer. The qualitative calculation of the energy transfer constant Cs-a and rate Ps-a showed that the Yb3+-> Ni2+ energy transfer was much greater than in the opposite direction. Yb3+/Ni2+ codoped glass ceramics with 0.75 mol % Yb2O3 exhibited a near-infrared emission with full width at half maximum of 290 nm and fluorescent lifetime of 920 mu s. The glass ceramics are promising for broadband optical amplification.

Three-photon-excited upconversion luminescence of niobium ions doped silicate glass by a femtosecond laser irradiation

We report on the bluish green upconversion luminescence of niobium ions doped silicate glass by a femtosecond laser irradiation. The dependence of the fluorescence intensity on the pump power density of laser indicates that the conversion of infrared irradiation to visible emission is dominated by three-photon excitation process. We suggest that the charge transfer from O-2-to Nb5+ can efficiently contribute to the bluish green emission. The results indicate that transition metal ions without d electrons play an important role in fields of optics when embedded into silicate glass matrix. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.

Transparent Ni2+-doped silicate glass ceramics for broadband near-infrared emission

Transparent Ni2+-doped MgO-Al2O3-Ga2O3-SiO2-TiO2 glass ceramics were fabricated. The precipitated nanocrystal phase in the glass ceramics was identified by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope. Broadband near-infrared emission centered at 1220 nm with full width at half maximum of about 240 nm and lifetime of about 250 mu s was observed with 980 nm excitation. The longer wavelength emission compared with Ni2+-doped MgAl2O4 crystal was attributed to the low crystal field occupied by Ni2+ in the glass ceramics. The present Ni2+-doped transparent glass ceramics may have potential applications in broadband optical amplifiers. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Luminescence properties of bismuth-doped lime silicate glasses

Luminescences from bismuth-doped lime silicate glasses were investigated. Luminescences centered at about 400, 650, and 1300 nm were observed, excited at 280, 532 and 808 nm, respectively. These three luminescence bands arise from three different kinds of bismuth ions in the glasses. The visible luminescences centered at 400 and 650 nm arise from Bi3+, and Bi2+, respectively. The infrared luminescences cover the wavelength range from 1000 to 1600 nm when exited by an 808 nm laser diode. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the infrared luminescences is more than 205 urn. The intensity of the infrared luminescence decreases with the increment in CaO content. We suggest that the infrared luminescences might arise from Bi+. Such broadband luminescences indicate that the glasses may be potential candidate material for broadband fiber amplifiers and tunable lasers. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nd3+ doped silicate glass photonic crystal fibres

We report on the fabrication of two kinds of large core area Nd3+ doped silicate glass photonic crystal fibres, and demonstration of the fibre waveguiding properties. The measured minimum loss of one kind of fibres is 2.5 db/m at 660nm. The fibres sustain only a single mode at least over the wavelength range from 660nm to 980nm.

Preparation and optical properties of silicate glasses containing Pd nanoparticles

We report the space selective precipitation of Pd nanoparticles in Pd2+ -doped silicate glass by ultrashort laser pulses irradiation and further annealing. Absorption spectra, transmission electron microscopy, refractive index measurement and Z-scan technique demonstrated that metallic Pd nanoparticles were precipitated in the glass sample after irradiation by an 800-nm femtosecond laser and subsequent annealing at 600 degrees C. We discuss a refractive index change and nonlinear absorption that combines the precipitation of Pd nanoparticles. Crown Copyright (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Raman spectroscopic investigation of pure and ytterbium-doped rare earth silicate crystals

Raman spectroscopy was used to study the molecular structure of a series of selected rare earth (RE) silicate crystals including Y2SiO5 (YSO), LU2SiO5 (LSO), (Lu0.5Y0.5)(2)SiO5 (LYSO) and their ytterbium-doped samples. Raman spectra show resolved bands below 500 cm(-1) region assigned to the modes of SiO4 and oxygen vibrations. Multiple bands indicate the nonequivalence of the RE-O bonds and the lifting of the degeneracy of the RE ion vibration. Low intensity bands below 500 cm(-1) are an indication of impurities. The (SiO4)(4-) tetrahedra are characterized by bands near 200 cm(-1) which show a separation of the components of nu(4) and nu(2), in the 500-700 cm(-1) region which are attributed to the distorting bending vibration and in the 880-1000 cm(-1) region which are attributed to the symmetric and antisymmetric stretching vibrational modes. The majority of the bands in the 300-610 cm(-1) region of Re2SiO5 were found to arise from vibrations involving both Si and RE ions, indicating that there is considerable mixing of Si displacements with Si-O bending modes and RE-0 stretching modes. The Raman spectra of RE silicate crystals were analyzed in terms of the molecular structure of the crystals, which enabled separation of the bands attributed to distinct vibrational units. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Thermal evolution of Er silicate thin films grown by rf magnetron sputtering

Stoichiometric Er silicate thin films, monosilicate (Er2SiO 5) and disilicate (Er2Si2O7), have been grown on c-Si substrates by rf magnetron sputtering. The influence of annealing temperature in the range 1000-1200 °C in oxidizing ambient (O 2) on the structural and optical properties has been studied. In spite of the known reactivity of rare earth silicates towards silicon, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry shows that undesired chemical reactions between the film and the substrate can be strongly limited by using rapid thermal treatments. Monosilicate and disilicate films crystallize at 1100 and 1200 °C, respectively, as shown by x-ray diffraction analysis; the crystalline structures have been identified in both cases. Moreover, photoluminescence (PL) measurements have demonstrated that the highest PL intensity is obtained for Er2Si2O7 film annealed at 1200 °C. In fact, this treatment allows us to reduce the defect density in the film, in particular by saturating oxygen vacancies, as also confirmed by the increase of the lifetime of the PL signal. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.

The influence of stoichiometry on the structural stability and on the optical emission of erbium silicate thin films

We report the effects of thermal annealing performed in N2 or O2 ambient at 1200 °C on the structural and optical properties of Er silicate films having different compositions (Er2Si O 5,Er2 Si2 O7, and their mixture). We demonstrate that the chemical composition of the stoichiometric films is preserved after the thermal treatments. All different crystalline structures formed after the thermal annealing are identified. Thermal treatments in O 2 lead to a strong enhancement of the photoluminescence intensity, owing to the efficient reduction of defect density. In particular the highest optical efficiency is associated to Er ions in the α phase of Er 2 Si2 O7. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Synthesis and luminescence properties of erbium silicate thin films

We have studied the structure and the room temperature luminescence of erbium silicate thin films deposited by rf magnetron sputtering. Films deposited on silicon oxide layers are characterized by good structural properties and excellent stability. The optical properties of these films are strongly improved by rapid thermal annealing processes performed in the range of temperature 800-1250 °C. In fact through the reduction of the defect density of the material, a very efficient room temperature photoluminescence at 1535 nm is obtained. We have also investigated the influence of the annealing ambient, by finding that treatments in O2 atmosphere are significantly more efficient in improving the optical properties of the material with respect to processes in N2. Upconversion effects become effective only when erbium silicate is excited with high pump powers. The evidence that all Er atoms (about 1022 cm-3) in erbium silicate films are optically active suggests interesting perspectives for optoelectronic applications of this material. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.