Broadband near-infrared luminescence from transparent glass-ceramics containing Ni2+-doped SrTiO3 nanocrystals

Transparent strontium titanium silicate glass-ceramics (GCs) containing Ni2+-doped SrTiO3 nanocrystals were synthesized by heat treatment method. Absorption spectra confirmed that the coordination environment of Ni2+ ions was changed from the trigonal bipyramid fivefold sites in as-cast glasses to the octahedral sites in the GCs. Upon 980 nm laser excitation, the GCs exhibited broadband near-infrared emissions covering 1.1-1.7 mu m wavelength region with the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of more than 290 nm and fluorescent lifetime of up to 735 mu s, which originated from the T-3(2g) (F-3) -> (3)A(2g) (F-3) transition of octahedral Ni2+ ions in the SrTiO3 nanocrystals. This kind of Ni2+-doped transparent GCs have potential applications in super-broadband optical amplifiers and tunable lasers. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.