Effect of Al on photoluminescence properties of Nd3+ in silicate glass prepared by in-situ sol-gel method

This article discusses our investigations into the structural and spectroscopic properties of Nd3+ co-doped alumino-silicate glass prepared by an in-situ sol-gel method. Structural characterization was carried out using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The XRD analysis reveals that the material is still amorphous even after being heated to 900 degrees C. FTIR analysis was used to identify the functional groups of the produced sol-gel silicate glass. The optical absorption spectra from the ground state I-4(9/2) show seven peaks in the UV-VIS and NIR regions. The optical absorption spectrum of Nd3+ co-doped alumino-silicate glass-ceramic was used to determine the Judd-Ofelt (JO) intensity parameters (Omega(2), Omega(4) and Omega(6)). The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum was recorded with a 2W diode laser source of 808 nm excitations. From the larger stimulated emission cross-section (3.80 x 10(-20) cm(2)) of the F-4(3/2) -> I-4(11/2) transition, it is concluded that the SiNdAl glasses could be highly useful for the development of solid state laser materials. From the observed refractive indices at three different wavelengths, non-linear parameters for the glass, such as the Abbe number (upsilon(Ab)) and non-linear refractive index (n(2)), are derived. [GRAPHICS]