Photoluminescence study of Nd-doped sol-gel silica glasses

Synthesis and Characterization of Lanthanide-Doped Silica Microspheres

“…During heat treatment, evaporation of fluids from the capillaries in the interior of the particles causes the particles to shrink, in some cases, to approximately half of their unbaked sizes. , We chose to heat our particles to 750 °C to eliminate as many hydroxyl groups as possible while still leaving enough surface functionality to maintain the hydrophilic nature of the particles and allow for future surface functionalization. We have confirmed that sufficient hydroxyl functionalities remain on the surfaces of the baked particles to deposit monolayers of alkoxysilanes.…”

“…Silica or silica-based glass doped with lanthanide ions is a visible/near-IR optically active material widely used for photonic applications, including lasers and optical fiber amplifiers. − Lanthanide-doped silica glass can be made in bulk by any of several methods including high-temperature vapor phase processing, , sol−gel chemistry, − or ion implantation. , There has been much recent interest in the synthesis of nanoscale particles doped with lanthanide ions because the optical properties of these materials may be modified as the dimensions of the host material are reduced. , In addition, producing silica colloids of predictable size and shape doped with a controllable concentration of lanthanide ions has significant potential for use in optical devices such as microlasers, thin-film device structures, , active photonic band gap materials, , and luminescent markers or nanosensors. − …”

“…Silica or silica-based glass doped with lanthanide ions is a visible/near-IR optically active material widely used for photonic applications, including lasers and optical fiber amplifiers. [1][2][3] Lanthanide-doped silica glass can be made in bulk by any of several methods including hightemperature vapor phase processing, 2,4 sol-gel chemistry, [5][6][7] or ion implantation. 8,9 There has been much recent interest in the synthesis of nanoscale particles doped with lanthanide ions because the optical properties of these materials may be modified as the dimensions of the host material are reduced.…”