Photochemical generation of E' centres from Si-H in amorphous SiO2 under pulsed ultraviolet laser radiation

In situ optical absorption spectroscopy was used to study the generation of E' centres in amorphous SiO_2 occurring by photo-induced breaking of Si-H groups under 4.7eV pulsed laser radiation. The dependence from laser intensity of the defect generation rate is consistent with a two-photon mechanism for Si-H rupture, while the growth and the saturation of the defects are conditioned by their concurrent annealing due to reaction with mobile hydrogen arising from the same precursor. A rate equation is proposed to model the kinetics of the defects and tested on experimental data.

Structural relaxation of E_gamma centers in amorphous silica

We report experimental evidence of the existence of two variants of the E' gamma centers induced in silica by gamma rays at room temperature. The two variants are distinguishable by the fine features of their line shapes in paramagnetic resonance spectra. These features suggest that the two E' gamma differ for their topology. We find a thermally induced interconversion between the centers with an activation energy of about 34 meV. Hints are also found for the existence of a structural configuration of minimum energy and of a metastable state.

Radiation responses of Yb/Er-doped phosphosilicate optical fibers: hardening mechanisms related to Ce-codoping

International audience; In this paper, we investigated the origins of the Ce positive influence on the radiation response of Yb/Er-doped phosphosilicate optical fibers. To this purpose, we carried out during γ-irradiations an online characterization on active optical fiber prototypes, made with different Ce concentrations and integrated in optical amplifiers. The hardening effect of Ce-codoping is highlighted, as well as some aspects related to the radiation response of the phosphosilicate host glass of the active optical fibers.

Photoinduced charge separation in functional carbon-silver nanohybrids

In recent times, nanoscience is devoting growing interest to the easy assembly of well-established nanomaterials into hybrid nanostructures displaying new emerging features. Here, we study the photophysicochemical response of binary nanohybrids obtained by the spontaneous coupling of luminescent carbon dots to silver nanoparticles with controlled surface charge. Evidence of the successful coupling is obtained by steady-state and time resolved optical measurements and further confirmed by direct imaging. We demonstrate strong interactions within nanohybrids, which can be modelled in terms of a sub-picosecond electron transfer from photoexcited carbon dots to silver nanoparticles. Accordingly…

Micrometer-size crystalline monolayer MoS2 domains obtained by sulfurization of molybdenum oxide ultrathin films

In this work, the formation of micrometer-size crystalline monolayer (1L) MoS2 flakes with triangular shape and a central multilayer core is obtained by the sulfurization at 800 °C of pre-deposited ultrathin MoOx films (1.2–1.8 nm) on c-sapphire substrates. The thickness uniformity, crystalline quality, doping and strain distribution in the MoS2 flakes as a function of the initial MoOx thickness was evaluated by micro-Raman (μR) mapping. The excellent crystalline quality of the triangular 1L-MoS2 flakes was confirmed by micro-photoluminescence (μPL) maps, showing a very intense peak at ∼1.85 eV, that decreases in the central part, as expected for multilayers MoS2. A biaxial strain of ∼0.38–…

Photocycle of point defects in highly- and weakly-germanium doped silica revealed by transient absorption measurements with femtosecond tunable pump.

AbstractWe report pump-probe transient absorption measurements addressing the photocycle of the Germanium lone pair center (GLPC) point defect with an unprecedented time resolution. The GLPC is a model point defect with a simple and well-understood electronic structure, highly relevant for several applications. Therefore, a full explanation of its photocycle is fundamental to understand the relaxation mechanisms of such molecular-like systems in solid state. The experiment, carried out exciting the sample resonantly with the ultraviolet (UV) GLPC absorption band peaked at 5.1 eV, gave us the possibility to follow the defect excitation-relaxation dynamics from the femto-picosecond to the nan…

O2 trapping in silica nano-structures with high specific surfaces

We report an experimental investigation regarding the entrapping of O2 molecules inside various silica nano– structured systems having specific surfaces from 50 to 1000 m2/g. By recording Raman spectra and Near Infrared O2 emission we studied the O2 content per mass unit. Our data show that the internal voids of these nanostructured systems can trap O2 molecules diffusing from the surrounding air or from a pure O2 atmosphere, whereas the concentration of O2 that can be trapped in the silica near–surface layer is at least one order of magnitude lower. This low ability is consistently observed in non–porous and porous silica nanoparticles and in mesoporous silica systems. Furthermore, we obse…

Inhomogeneity Effects On Point Defects Studied By Photoluminescence Time Decay In SiO2.

The photophysics of distorted nanographenes: Ultra-slow relaxation dynamics, memory effects, and delayed fluorescence

The controlled deformation and engineering of the sp2 carbon network in atomically-precise nanographenes, and their substantially larger size as compared to typical optical dyes, opens new opportunities for the modulation of optical and electronic properties, but the peculiar photophysics of these systems is still poorly understood. Here, through a detailed comparative study of two well-defined distorted nanographenes, we show that they can exhibit interesting photophysical features, such as triplet-triplet annihilation delayed fluorescence, ultra-slow excited state dynamics, and excitation-wavelength memory effects on the nanosecond and sub-nanosecond relaxation cascades. Some of these beh…

Influence of fluorine on the fiber performance studied through the NBOHC-related 1.9 eV microluminescence

International audience; The distribution of Non Bridging Oxygen Hole Centers (NBOHC) in Fluorine doped optical fibers was investigated by confocal microluminescence spectroscopy monitoring the characteristic 1.9 eV luminescence band. The results show that these defects are generated by the fiber drawing and their concentration further increases after γ irradiation. The NBOHC profile along the fiber is anticorrelated to the fluorine content. This finding agrees with the role of fluorine in the fiber toughness and is discussed from the microscopic point of view on the basis of previous works.

Strain, doping and electronic transport of large area monolayer MoS2 exfoliated on gold and transferred to an insulating substrate

Gold-assisted mechanical exfoliation currently represents a promising method to separate ultra-large (cm-scale) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) monolayers (1L) with excellent electronic and optical properties from the parent van der Waals (vdW) crystals. The strong interaction between $Au$ and chalcogen atoms is the key to achieve this nearly perfect 1L exfoliation yield. On the other hand, it may affect significantly the doping and strain of 1L TMDs in contact with Au. In this paper, we systematically investigated the morphology, strain, doping, and electrical properties of large area 1L $MoS_{2}$ exfoliated on ultra-flat $Au$ films ($0.16-0.21 nm$ roughness) and finally transferre…

Durcissement aux radiations de fibres optiques dopées terres rares et d'amplificateurs 'a fibres optiques

National audience; Cette étude vise à comprendre les effets d'une irradiation Ȗ sur les propriétés optiques et structurales des fibres dopées aux Terres Rares en vue de leur utilisation dans des amplificateurs à fibre réalisés pour des applications spatiales. L'enjeu majeur de durcissement de ces composants est abordé via des techniques telles que le chargement en hydrogène et/ou le co-dopage au Cérium du cœur des fibres optiques. L'identification des centres responsables de l'atténuation induite par irradiation et la compréhension des mécanismes de dégradation mis en jeu sont des étapes indispensables au développement de ces fibres.

In situobservation of the generation and annealing kinetics of E ′ centres induced in amorphous SiO2by 4.7 eV laser irradiation

The kinetics of E' centers induced in silica by 4.7eV laser irradiation was investigated observing in situ their optical absorption band at 5.8 eV. After exposure the defects decay due to reaction with diffusing molecular hydrogen of radiolytic origin. Hydrogen-related annealing is active also during exposure and competes with the photo-induced generation of the centers until a saturation is reached. The concentrations of E' and H2 at saturation are proportional, so indicating that the UV-induced generation processes of the two species are correlated. These results are consistent with a model in which E' and hydrogen are generated from a common precursor Si-H.

Thermal bleaching of gamma-induced-defects in optical fibers

International audience; Ge-doped and F-doped gamma-irradiated fibers with a maximum accumulated dose of 10 MGy were subjected to isochronal annealing treatments up to 750°C. The thermal treatment influence on the point defect generation and transformation were investigated through Radiation Induced Attenuation (RIA) changes in the visible and IR spectral domains. The thermal bleaching of gammainduced-defects depends on both temperature and composition of optical fibers.