Preparation and optical properties of silica gel-glass doped with ZnSe nanoparticles

The silica gel-glasses doped with zinc selenide (ZnSe) nanoparticles were prepared by the sol-gel technique which was followed by a reductive thermal treatment. The samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), optical absorption and photoluminescence spectra. The blue shift of the absorption edge can be changed and used to evaluate the average size of the nanoparticles. The band-edge emission of the sample excited with the ultraviolet excitation was observed for few samples. The surface defects of nanoparticles would degrade the band-edge emission. The results revealed the ZnSe nanoparticles doped in the glass were in the state of strong quantum confinement. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.