Er3+–Al2O3 nanoparticles doping of borosilicate glass

• Published in: Bulletin of materials science 2015-09, Vol.38 (5), p.1407-1410
• Main Authors: MASSERA, JONATHAN, PETIT, LAETICIA, KOPONEN, JOONA, GLORIEUX, BENOIT, HUPA, LEENA, HUPA, MIKKO
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum oxide; Borosilicate glass; Chemical Sciences; Chemical vapor deposition; Chemistry and Materials Science; Doping; Engineering; Luminescence; Material chemistry; Materials Science; Nanoparticles; Optical properties; Rare earth elements; Raw materials
• ISSN: 0250-4707; 0973-7669
• DOI: 10.1007/s12034-015-1028-3

Novel borosilicate glasses were developed by adding in the glass batch Er 3+ –Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles synthetized by using a soft chemical method. A similar nanoparticle doping with modified chemical vapour deposition (MCVD) process was developed to increase the efficiency of the amplifying silica fibre in comparison to using MCVD and solution doping. It was shown that with the melt quench technique, a Er 3+ –Al 2 O 3 nanoparticle doping neither leads to an increase in the Er 3+ luminescence properties nor allows one to control the rare-earth chemical environment in a borosilicate glass. The site of Er 3+ in the Er 3+ –Al 2 O 3 nanoparticle containing glass seems to be similar as in glasses with the same composition prepared using standard raw materials. We suspect the Er 3+ ions to diffuse from the nanoparticles into the glass matrix. There was no clear evidence of the presence of Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles in the glasses after melting.