Role of Ag multimers as broadband sensitizers in Tb3+/Yb3+ co-doped glass-ceramics

Enrichi, Francesco; Cattaruzza, Elti; Ferrari, Maurizio; Gonella, Francesco; Martucci, Alessandro; Ottini, Riccardo; Riello, Pietro; Righini, Giancarlo C.; Trave, Enrico; Vomiero, Alberto; Żur, Lidia

doi:10.1117/12.2314738

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In the last two decades, broadband and efficient sensitization of Er 3+ ions by silicon [ 17 , 18 , 19 ] or silver aggregates [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ] have been reported, showing that multimers and nanoaggregates can act as energy-transfer centres to the RE 3+ ions. More recently, Ag sensitization was successfully observed in Tb 3+ [ 26 , 27 , 28 ] and Tb 3+ /Yb 3+ [ 29 ] co-doped materials. In this paper, we report the investigation of the direct interaction between Ag nanoaggregates and Yb 3+ rare earth ions in sol-gel silica-zirconia glass-ceramic (GC) waveguides.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ag-Sensitized Yb3+ Emission in Glass-Ceramics

et al. 2018

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Rare earth doped materials play a very important role in the development of many photonic devices, such as optical amplifiers and lasers, frequency converters, solar concentrators, up to quantum information storage devices. Among the rare earth ions, ytterbium is certainly one of the most frequently investigated and employed. The absorption and emission properties of Yb3+ ions are related to transitions between the two energy levels 2F7/2 (ground state) and 2F5/2 (excited state), involving photon energies around 1.26 eV (980 nm). Therefore, Yb3+ cannot directly absorb UV or visible light, and it is often used in combination with other rare earth ions like Pr3+, Tm3+, and Tb3+, which act as energy transfer centres. Nevertheless, even in those co-doped materials, the absorption bandwidth can be limited, and the cross section is small. In this paper, we report a broadband and efficient energy transfer process between Ag dimers/multimers and Yb3+ ions, which results in a strong PL emission around 980 nm under UV light excitation. Silica-zirconia (70% SiO2-30% ZrO2) glass-ceramic films doped by 4 mol.% Yb3+ ions and an additional 5 mol.% of Na2O were prepared by sol-gel synthesis followed by a thermal annealing at 1000 °C. Ag introduction was then obtained by ion-exchange in a molten salt bath and the samples were subsequently annealed in air at 430 °C to induce the migration and aggregation of the metal. The structural, compositional, and optical properties were investigated, providing evidence for efficient broadband sensitization of the rare earth ions by energy transfer from Ag dimers/multimers, which could have important applications in different fields, such as PV solar cells and light-emitting near-infrared (NIR) devices.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ag-Sensitized Yb3+ Emission in Glass-Ceramics

et al. 2018

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“…In the past, silicon [20][21][22][23] or silver aggregates [24][25][26][27] were proven as broadband efficient sensitizers for Er 3+ ions. Ag sensitization was successfully observed also for other RE 3+ ions (Eu, Tb, Yb, Dy, Sm) [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. In this paper, we will further investigate the interaction between Ag aggregates and Yb 3+ , analyzing the role of the glass-ceramic (GC) matrix and its crystalline structure on the optical properties of the composite material.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Ag-Sensitized NIR-Emitting Yb3+-Doped Glass-Ceramics

et al. 2020

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The optical photoluminescent (PL) emission of Yb3+ ions in the near infrared (NIR) spectral region at about 950–1100 nm has many potential applications, from photovoltaics to lasers and visual devices. However, due to their simple energy-level structure, Yb3+ ions cannot directly absorb UV or visible light, putting serious limits on their use as light emitters. In this paper we describe a broadband and efficient strategy for sensitizing Yb3+ ions by Ag codoping, resulting in a strong 980 nm PL emission under UV and violet-blue light excitation. Yb-doped silica–zirconia–soda glass–ceramic films were synthesized by sol-gel and dip-coating, followed by annealing at 1000 °C. Ag was then introduced by ion-exchange in a molten salt bath for 1 h at 350 °C. Different post-exchange annealing temperatures for 1 h in air at 380 °C and 430 °C were compared to investigate the possibility of migration/aggregation of the metal ions. Studies of composition showed about 1–2 wt% Ag in the exchanged samples, not modified by annealing. Structural analysis reported the stabilization of cubic zirconia by Yb-doping. Optical measurements showed that, in particular for the highest annealing temperature of 430 °C, the potential improvement of the material’s quality, which would increase the PL emission, is less relevant than Ag-aggregation, which decreases the sensitizers number, resulting in a net reduction of the PL intensity. However, all the Ag-exchanged samples showed a broadband Yb3+ sensitization by energy transfer from Ag aggregates, clearly attested by a broad photoluminescence excitation spectra after Ag-exchange, paving the way for applications in various fields, such as solar cells and NIR-emitting devices.

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“…A broad review on Er-Yb laser and amplifiers, covering both the photoluminescence issues and the various materials and technologies, was published in 2011 by Bradley and Pollnau [180]. In the last years, owing to the fact that Er-Yb co-doped ion-exchanged waveguides and devices in silicate and phosphate glasses constitute a mature technology, only very few papers have been published, including some ones related to up-down frequency conversion with application to lighting and solar cells [164,[181][182][183][184]. The main research focus has been shifted toward technological platforms that could allow integration with silicon and compatibility with CMOS technology; thus, rare-earth doped aluminum oxide has emerged as a new excellent material.…”

Section: Ion-exchanged Active Integrated Photonic Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active and Quantum Integrated Photonic Elements by Ion Exchange in Glass

Righini

Liñares

2021

Applied Sciences

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Ion exchange in glass has a long history as a simple and effective technology to produce gradient-index structures and has been largely exploited in industry and in research laboratories. In particular, ion-exchanged waveguide technology has served as an excellent platform for theoretical and experimental studies on integrated optical circuits, with successful applications in optical communications, optical processing and optical sensing. It should not be forgotten that the ion-exchange process can be exploited in crystalline materials, too, and several crucial devices, such as optical modulators and frequency doublers, have been fabricated by ion exchange in lithium niobate. Here, however, we are concerned only with glass material, and a brief review is presented of the main aspects of optical waveguides and passive and active integrated optical elements, as directional couplers, waveguide gratings, integrated optical amplifiers and lasers, all fabricated by ion exchange in glass. Then, some promising research activities on ion-exchanged glass integrated photonic devices, and in particular quantum devices (quantum circuits), are analyzed. An emerging type of passive and/or reconfigurable devices for quantum cryptography or even for specific quantum processing tasks are presently gaining an increasing interest in integrated photonics; accordingly, we propose their implementation by using ion-exchanged glass waveguides, also foreseeing their integration with ion-exchanged glass lasers.

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Role of Ag multimers as broadband sensitizers in Tb3+/Yb3+ co-doped glass-ceramics

Cited by 4 publications

References 25 publications

Ag-Sensitized Yb3+ Emission in Glass-Ceramics

Ag-Sensitized Yb3+ Emission in Glass-Ceramics

Ag-Sensitized NIR-Emitting Yb3+-Doped Glass-Ceramics

Active and Quantum Integrated Photonic Elements by Ion Exchange in Glass

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