Comprehensive studies of the Ag+ effect on borosilicate glass ceramics containing Ag nanoparticles and Er-doped hexagonal NaYF4 nanocrystals: morphology, structure, and 2.7 μm emission

Abstract

In this work, we have performed a comprehensive investigation of the Ag+ concentration effect on the morphological, thermal, structural, and mid-infrared emission properties of novel oxyfluoride borosilicate glasses and glass ceramics containing both Ag nanoparticles and erbium-doped hexagonal NaYF4 nanocrystals. The effect of Ag+ ions on the glass forming and crystallization processes was discussed in detail by glass structural analysis. It was found that the Ag+ concentration can affect the distribution of Na+ ion and bridge oxygen in boron-rich and silicon-rich phases, which induced the transformation between BO3 triangles and BO4 tetrahedra during crystallization process. In addition, there was a turning point when the doped Ag+ ion concentration reached its solubility in the borosilicate glass. Furthermore, the enhancement of the 2.7 μm emission and the reduction of the lifetime of the 4I13/2 level were observed both in glasses and in glass ceramics, and its origin was revealed by qualitative and quantitative analyses of the Er3+-Ag nanoparticles (localized electric field enhancement) and Er3+-Er3+ (nonradiative resonance energy transfer) interactions within glasses and glass ceramics. Moreover, the high lifetime of the 4I11/2 level (2.12 ms) and the peak emission cross section in 2.7 μm (6.8×10−21 cm2) suggested that the prepared glass ceramics have promising mid-infrared laser applications.

Chromaticity-Tunable All-Inorganic Color Converters Fabricated by 3D Printing for Modular Plant Growth Lighting Devices

“…Glass is an important matrix material used in the laboratory, industry, and daily life because of its high transparency, excellent chemical and thermal resistance, etc. − Phosphor in glass (PiG) is a composite material with micro/nano luminescent grains embedded in an inorganic glass matrix, which has the advantages of stable physicochemical properties and great thermal conductivity. − In addition, the luminescent properties of PiG can be effectively regulated by the type, size, and quantity of doped phosphors. With the continuous optimization of PiG materials, the luminous efficiency of PiG-based LEDs has been able to meet the requirements of general lighting, laying a solid foundation for replacing phosphor/resin fluorescent conversion layers in traditional LEDs with PiG materials.…”

Studies of Sol-Gel Evolution and Distribution of Eu3+ Ions in Glass–Ceramics Containing LaF3 Nanocrystals Depending on Initial Sols Composition

“…Oxyfluoride nano-glass-ceramics doped with optically active rare earth ions (RE 3+ ) have gained great attention due to their favorable behavior as a result of mixing the advantages of fluoride nanocrystals with an oxide glassy host [9][10][11][12][13]. Indeed, because of their undoubtedly outstanding properties, such a class of optical materials is indispensable in the development of optoelectronics, offering promising applications in optical thermometers [14][15][16][17], LEDs [18][19][20], waveguides [21], and lasers [22].…”