Search results for "Point defect"
showing 10 items of 65 documents
Properties and generation by irradiation of germanium point defects in Ge-doped silica
2012
Ge doped amorphous silicon dioxide (Ge doped silica) has attracted the attention of researchers for more than 50 years. This material is used in many different technological fields from electronics, to telecommunication, to optics. In particular, it is widely used for the production of optical fibers and linear and nonlinear optical devices. The optical fibers, which allow to transmit optical signals with high speed avoiding interferences, are constituted by two regions with different refractive index values: core (inner part) and cladding (external part). To increase the refractive index of the core with respect to that of cladding, Ge doping of silica is commonly used. Moreover, in the Ge…
Photo-Activated Phosphorescence of Ultrafine ZnS:Mn Quantum Dots: On the Lattice Strain Contribution
2021
We address the enhancement of orange-light luminescence of Mn-doped zinc sulfide nanoparticles (NPs) induced by exposure to UV light. Ultrafine ZnS:Mn NPs are prepared by microwave-assisted crystal growth in ethanol, without adding any dispersant agents. When exposed to UV light, their orange emission intensity undergoes a strong increase. This effect is observed when the NPs are deposited as a thin layer on a transparent substrate or dispersed in an ethanolic suspension. Such a feature was already observed on polymer- or surfactant-coated ZnS:Mn NPs and explained as a passivation effect. In this study, by coupling X-ray photoelectron, Fourier transform infrared, and electron paramagnetic r…
Wide range excitation of visible luminescence in nanosilica
2010
The visible luminescence of nanometer-sized silica particles (7 nm mean diameter) was investigated using time resolved spectroscopy. This luminescence is characterized by a wide excitation in the visible and ultraviolet range. The emission spectrum is centred at 2.72 eV with a full width at half maximum of 0.70 eV when excited above 3.5 eV, whereas it progressively empties on the high energy side when excited below 3.5 eV. Moreover, the lifetime falls in the ns timescale and decreases on increasing the emission energy. These features are due to the exceptionally broad inhomogeneous distribution of the emitting centres peculiar to the silica nanoparticles. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights res…
Transient absorption with a femtosecond tunable excitation pump reveals the emission kinetics of color centers in amorphous silica.
2021
We report a set of femtosecond (fs) transient absorption (TA) measurements following the dynamics of the so-called nonbridging oxygen hole center in silica, a model color center in wide bandgap amorphous solids, characterized by a very large Stokes shift between the UV excitation and its associated red emission at 1.9 eV. The changes in the TA spectrum were probed in the UV-visible range at various delays after photoexcitation and analyzed as a function of the UV excitation energy, in single-photon absorption conditions. The combination of the experiments helps to clarify the defect photocycle, highlighting how TA measurements with tunable UV excitation could represent a powerful tool to in…
Physical Fundamentals of Biomaterials Surface Electrical Functionalization
2020
This article is focusing on electrical functionalization of biomaterial&rsquo
Structure of amorphous SiO 2 nanoparticles probed through the E′ γ centers
2011
We report an experimental investigation by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy on the properties of the E′ γ centers induced by β-ray irradiation in nanoparticles of amorphous SiO 2 (fumed silica) with mean diameters from 7 up to 40 nm. We found that the E′ γ centers are induced in all the fumed silica types in the dose range 4-400 kGy. They are characterized by an EPR line shape similar to that observed in common bulk silica materials independently on the particle diameter. Moreover, the E′ γ center concentration decreases on decreasing of the particle size for each given dose. Our findings are interpreted in terms of a shell-like model of nanoparticles in which it is assume…
Ge-doped silica nanoparticles: production and characterisation
2016
Silica nanoparticles were produced from germanosilicate glasses by KrF laser irradiation. The samples were investigated by cathodoluminescence and scanning electron microscopy, providing the presence of nanoparticles with size from tens up to hundreds of nanometers. The emission of the Germanium lone pair center is preserved in the nanoparticles and atomic force microscopy revealed the presence of no spherical particles with a size smaller than ~4 nm. The absorption coefficient enhancement induced by Ge doping is reputed fundamental to facilitate the nanoparticles production. This procedure can be applied to other co-doped silica materials to tune the nanoparticles features.
The role of impurities in the irradiation induced densification of amorphous SiO(2).
2011
In a recent work (Buscarino et al 2009 Phys. Rev. B 80 094202), by studying the properties of the (29)Si hyperfine structure of the E'(γ) point defect, we have proposed a model able to describe quantitatively the densification process taking place upon electron irradiation in amorphous SiO(2) (a-SiO(2)). In particular, we have shown that it proceeds heterogeneously, through the nucleation of confined densified regions statistically dispersed into the whole volume of the material. In the present experimental investigation, by using a similar approach on a wider set of materials, we explore how this process is influenced by impurities, such as OH and Cl, typically involved in relevant concent…
Overview of radiation induced point defects in silica-based optical fibers
2019
International audience; Silica-based optical fibers, fiber-based devices and optical fiber sensors are today integrated in a variety of harsh environments associated with radiation constraints. Under irradiation, the macroscopic properties of the optical fibers are modified through three main basic mechanisms: the radiation induced attenuation, the radiation induced emission and the radiation induced refractive index change. Depending on the fiber profile of use, these phenomena differently contribute to the degradation of the fiber performances and then have to be either mitigated for radiation tolerant systems or exploited to design radiation detectors and dosimeters. Considering the stro…
Photoluminescence of Point Defects in Silicon Dioxide by Femtosecond Laser Exposure
2021
The nature of the radiation-induced point defects in amorphous silica is investigated through online photoluminescence (PL) under high intensity ultrashort laser pulses. Using 1030 nm femtosecond laser pulses with a repetition rate of 1 kHz, it is possible to study the induced color centers through their PL signatures monitored during the laser exposure. Their generation is driven by the nonlinear absorption of the light related to the high pulse peak powers provided by femtosecond laser, allowing to probe the optical properties of the laser exposed region. The experiment is conducted as a function of the laser pulse power in samples with different OH contents. The results highlight the dif…