Publication: Unusual broadening of the NIR luminescence of Er3+-doped Nb2O5 nanocrystals embedded in silica host: Preparation and their structural and spectroscopic study for photonics applications
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Undergraduate course
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Elsevier B.V.
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Article
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Abstract
This paper reports on the preparation of novel sol-gel erbium-doped SiO2-based nanocomposites embedded with Nb2O5 nanocrystals fabricated using a bottom-up method and describes their structural, morphological, and luminescence characterization. To prepare the glass ceramics, we synthesized xerogels containing Si/Nb molar ratios of 90:10 up to 50:50 at room temperature, followed by annealing at 900, 1000, or 1100 degrees C for 10 h. We identified crystallization accompanying host densification in all the nanocomposites with orthorhombic (T-phase) or monoclinic (M-phase) Nb2O5 nanocrystals dispersed in the amorphous SiO2 phase, depending on the niobium content and annealing temperature. A high-intensity broadband emission in the near-infrared region assigned to the I-4(13/2) --> I-4(15/2) transition of the Er3+ ions was registered for all the nanocomposites. The shape and the bandwidth changed with the Nb2O5 crystalline phase, with values achieving up to 81 nm. Er3+ ions were located mainly in Nb2O5-rich regions, and the complex structure of the different Nb2O5 polymorphs accounted for the broadening in the emission spectra. The materials containing the T-phase, displayed higher luminescence intensity, longer I-4(13/2) lifetime and broader bandwidth. In conclusion, these nanostructured materials are potential candidates for photonic applications like optical amplifiers and WDM devices operating in the S, C, and L telecommunication bands. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Keywords
Oxides, Optical materials, Luminescence, Photoluminescence spectroscopy, Sol-gel growth
Language
English
Citation
Materials Chemistry And Physics. Lausanne: Elsevier Science Sa, v. 147, n. 3, p. 751-760, 2014.
