We have annealed Ge28.125Ga6.25S65.625 glasses doped with 0.5% Dy to create glass-ceramics in order to examine the local chemical environment of the rare earth ions (REI). More than 12 times enhancement of the emission at 2.9 and 3.5 μm was achieved in glass-ceramics produced using prolonged annealing time. Elemental mapping showed clear evidence that Ga2S3 crystalline grains with a size of 50 nm were dispersed in a Ge-S glass matrix in the glass-ceramics, and the REI could only be found near the Ga2S3 crystalline grains. From the unchanged lineshape of the emissions at 2.9 and 3.5 μm and lack of splitting of the absorption peaks, we concluded that the REI were bonded to Ga on the surface of the Ga2S3 crystals.
We prepared chemically stoichiometric, S‐poor and S‐rich Ge–Ga–S glasses and annealed them at a temperature that was 20°C higher than its respective glass transition temperature. We aimed at tuning the formation of the different crystals in chalcogenide glass‐ceramics. Through systematic characterization of the structure using X‐ray diffraction and Raman scattering spectra, we found that, GeS2 and GeS crystals only can be created in S‐rich and S‐poor glass‐ceramics, respectively, while all GeS, Ga2S3, and GeS2 crystals exist in chemically stoichiometric glass‐ceramics. Moreover, we demonstrated the homogeneous distribution of the crystals can be formed in the S‐rich glass‐ceramics from the surface to the interior via composition designing. The present approach blazes a new path to control the growth of the different crystals in chalcogenide glass‐ceramics.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.