0000000000312764
AUTHOR
Víctor Lavín
Lattice dynamics study of nanocrystalline yttrium gallium garnet at high pressure
This work reports an experimental and theoretical lattice dynamics study of nanocrystalline Y3Ga5O12 (YGG) garnet at high pressures. Raman scattering measurements in nanocrystalline Tm3+-doped YGG garnet performed up to 29 GPa have been compared to lattice dynamics ab initio calculations for bulk garnet carried out up to 89 GPa. Good agreement between the theoretical vibrational modes of bulk crystal and the experimental modes measured in the nanocrystals is found. The contribution of GaO4 tetrahedra and GaO6 octahedra to the different phonon modes of YGG is discussed on the basis of the calculated total and partial phonon density of states. Symmetries, frequencies, and pressure coefficient…
Formation of nanostructures in Eu3+ doped glass-ceramics: an XAS study.
We describe the results of x-ray absorption experiments carried out to deduce structural and chemical information in Eu(3+) doped, transparent, oxyfluoride glass and nanostructured glass-ceramic samples. The spectra were measured at the Pb and Eu-L(III) edges. The Eu environment in the glass samples is observed to be similar to that of EuF(3). Complementary x-ray diffraction experiments show that thermal annealing creates β-PbF(2) type nanocrystals. X-ray absorption indicates that Eu ions act as seeds in the nanocrystal formation. There is evidence of interstitial fluorine atoms around Eu ions as well as Eu dimers. X-ray absorption at the Pb-L(III) edge shows that after the thermal treatmen…
Experimental and theoretical study on the optical properties of LaVO4 crystals under pressure
We report optical absorption and luminescence measurements in pure and trivalent neodymium (Nd3+) doped LaVO4 crystals up to 25 GPa. Nd3+ luminescence has been employed as a tool to follow the structural changes in the crystal. We also present band-structure and crystal-field calculations that provide the theoretical framework to accurately explain the observed experimental results. In particular, both optical absorption and luminescence measurements evidence that a phase transition takes place close to 12 GPa. They also provide information on the pressure dependence of the band-gap as well as the emission lines under compression. We found drastic changes in the optical properties of LaVO4 …
Lanthanide-doped Y3Ga5O12 garnets for nanoheating and nanothermometry in the first biological window
Abstract Absorption and luminescence spectra in the first biological window of Nd3+ single-doped and Er3+-Yb3+ co-doped Y3Ga5O12 nano-garnets have been studied to evaluate their potential use as simultaneous optical nanoheaters and nanothermometers in biomedicine. Nd3+-doped nano-garnets uses the 808 nm laser radiation, resonant with the largest absorption peak of the 4I9/2 → 4F5/2 transition, for both heating the nanoparticle and populating the 4F3/2 emitting level. Changes in the relative intensities of different emission peaks between Stark levels of the 4F3/2 (R1,2)→4I9/2 (Z1-5) transition can be directly related to the temperature of the nano-garnet. On the other hand, the Yb3+/Er3+com…
Pressure-induced amorphization of YVO4:Eu3+ nanoboxes
A structural transformation from the zircon-type structure to an amorphous phase has been found in YVO4:Eu3+ nanoboxes at high pressures above 12.7 GPa by means of x-ray diffraction measurements. However, the pair distribution function of the high-pressure phase shows that the local structure of the amorphous phase is similar to the scheelite-type YVO4. These results are confirmed both by Raman spectroscopy and Eu3+ photoluminescence which detect the phase transition to a scheelite-type structure at 10.1 and 9.1 GPa, respectively. The irreversibility of the phase transition is observed with the three techniques after a maximum pressure in the upstroke of around 20 GPa. The existence of two …
Evolution of the structural and optical properties from cobalt cordierite glass to glass-ceramic based on spinel crystalline phase materials
Co 2+ -containing cordierite stoichiometric glasses have been prepared by melting colloidal gel precursors. After controlled thermal processing in the range of temperatures between 900 and 1300 C different polycrystalline, almost single phase materials displaying l-, a-, and b-cordierite crystalline forms were synthesized. In addition, spinel glass-ceramic materials were also prepared from the base glasses. All these materials were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. Room temperature (RT) absorption and emission spectra of Co 2+ – cordierites and – spinel-glass material have allowed determining the local environment of the Co 2+ in the crystalline structure …
Broadband, site selective and time resolved photoluminescence spectroscopic studies of finely size-modulated Y2O3:Eu3+ phosphors synthesized by a complex based precursor solution method
Undoped and Eu3+-doped cubic yttria (Y2O3) nanophosphors of good crystallinity, with selective particle sizes ranging between 6 and 37 nm and showing narrow size distributions, have been synthesized by a complex-based precursor solution method. The systematic size tuning has been evidenced by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman scattering measurements. Furthermore, size-modulated properties of Eu3+ ions have been correlated with the local structure of Eu3+ ion in different sized Y2O3:Eu3+ nanophosphors by means of steady-state and time-resolved site-selective laser spectroscopies. Time-resolved site-selective excitation measurements performed in the 7F0 ¿ 5D0 peak…
Effect of pressure on the luminescence properties of Nd3+ doped SrWO4 laser crystal
Abstract The luminescence spectra of the 4 F 3/2 → 4 I 9/2 transition of Nd 3+ ions in a SrWO 4 crystal have been analyzed as a function of pressure at room temperature. Experiments have been performed in a diamond-anvil cell up to 13 GPa. At around 10 GPa some changes in the emission spectra have been observed which are attributed to a structural phase transition of the SrWO 4 matrix. These results are in good agreement with a previous paper, in which in a pure SrWO 4 matrix a scheelite to fergusonite phase transition is found around 10.5 GPa. Moreover, with increasing pressure, the decay curves from the 4 F 3/2 are nonexponential and faster indicating that the energy transfer processes …