Issue 35, 2013

Distribution of thulium in Tm3+-doped oxyfluoride glasses and glass-ceramics

Abstract

Rare-earth (RE) doped transparent glass-ceramics are presented as very promising materials for optical applications. In this work, Transmission Electron Microscopy techniques have been used to structurally characterize a glass of composition 55SiO2–20Al2O3–15Na2O–10LaF3 (mol%), doped with 1 mol% Tm2O3, and the corresponding glass-ceramic. The proposed crystallization mechanism for this glass has been modified from the results obtained through advanced STEM/EDXS techniques. The parent glass contains phase separated regions mainly enriched in F and La and also in Al, Si and Tm. After annealing, 10–20 nm LaF3 nano-crystals are formed from these phase separated droplets. The partial incorporation of the doping Tm3+ ions into the LaF3 nano-crystals has been verified and the interphase crystal/glassy matrix has been more precisely characterized through EDXS. An Al enriched layer is formed around the crystals followed by a Si enriched shell, which greatly increase the viscosity in the periphery of the crystals, inhibiting further crystal growth and thus, keeping the nano size of the crystals.

Graphical abstract: Distribution of thulium in Tm3+-doped oxyfluoride glasses and glass-ceramics

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Apr 2013
Accepted
02 Jul 2013
First published
02 Jul 2013

CrystEngComm, 2013,15, 6979-6985

Distribution of thulium in Tm3+-doped oxyfluoride glasses and glass-ceramics

A. de Pablos-Martin, C. Patzig, T. Höche, A. Duran and M. J. Pascual, CrystEngComm, 2013, 15, 6979 DOI: 10.1039/C3CE40731D

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