V 2 O 5 was introduced up to 9 wt.% in a peralkaline alkaline earth aluminosilicate glass and up to 4.8 wt.% in two sodo aluminosilicate glasses, respectively, a peralkaline and a peraluminous one. This introduction had a strong effect on thermal properties, and in particular, on glass transition and crystallization temperatures of the peraluminous glass, which dropped by 89 K, while a moderate drop of ∼20 K was observed for the two other glasses. Still, the glass stability and the glass-forming ability stayed almost unmodified. The elastic properties measured by Brillouin spectroscopy show a decrease with added Vanadium for the depolymerized alkali earth aluminosilicate and the peraluminous sodo aluminosilicate. In contrast, the elastic properties remained unchanged for the peralkaline composition. Using optical absorption, the proportion of V 5+ , which is largely dominant, was found to follow the trend predicted using optical basicity considerations. A large photoluminescence emission, centered at ∼560 nm, was found for all glasses, upon excitation in the UV edge at both ∼280 and ∼350 nm. The emission band positions were relatively insensitive to the glass composition, whereas their intensities show variations of one order of magnitude between the sodium peralkaline composition and the calcium depolymerized glass. A too-high concentration of V 2 O 5 shows a quenching effect on the emission. Polarized and cross-polarized Raman spectroscopy allowed us to identify the different environments around the V 5+ O 4 tetrahedra. The highly polarizable V 5+ O 4 tetrahedra associated with two non-bridging oxygens, vibrating at 860 cm −1 , is proposed to be responsible for the more efficient charge transfer. At the opposite end, the formation of VO 4 -AlO 4 units is proposed to quench luminescence properties. Furthermore, we observed that, upon thermal treatment, the optical properties of the glasses are significantly modified without observable structural modifications or evolution of the elastic properties.
For years, scientists have been looking for different techniques to make glasses perfect: fully amorphous and ideally homogeneous. Meanwhile, recent advances in the development of particle-containing glasses (PCG), defined in this paper as glass-ceramics, glasses doped with metallic nanoparticles, and phase-separated glasses show that these "imperfect" glasses can result in better optical materials if particles of desired chemistry, size, and shape are present in the glass. It has been shown that PCGs can be used for the fabrication of nanostructured fibers-a novel class of media for fiber optics. These unique optical fibers are able to outperform their traditional glass counterparts in terms of available emission spectral range, quantum efficiency, non-linear properties, fabricated sensors sensitivity, and other parameters. Being rather special, nanostructured fibers require new, unconventional solutions on the materials used, fabrication, and characterization techniques, limiting the use of these novel materials. This work overviews practical aspects and progress in the fabrication and characterization methods of the particle-containing glasses with particular attention to nanostructured fibers made of these materials. A review of the recent achievements shows that current technologies allow producing high-optical quality PCG-fibers of different types, and the unique optical properties of these nanostructured fibers make them prospective for applications in lasers, optical communications, medicine, lighting, and other areas of science and industry.Made of glass, optical fibers inherited all positive and negative properties of this material. Glasses are easy and inexpensive to produce on any scale and in any shape, they can possess high chemical stability and mechanical strength, and have high transparency. However, they could hardly compete, for example, with crystalline materials in thermal conductivity, or rare-earth elements' absorption, emission cross-sections, and available transparency range. Recent advances in glass science showed that properties of this material can be significantly improved if some additional phases are formed or impregnated in the glass. In particular, advances have been achieved in the development of particle-containing glasses: glass-ceramic materials, glasses doped with metallic nanoparticles, and phase-separated glasses. To date, these particle-containing glasses have become quite common and actively used in case of the bulk materials, but are still rather new for fiber optics.The purpose of this review is to summarize recent advances in the fabrication of structured fibers made of particle-containing glasses, their potential benefits, their actual properties, and their potential applications. The review covers three types of particle-containing glasses (PCG): crystalline dielectric particles, i.e., glass-ceramics; metallic nanoparticles (MeNPs); and dielectric amorphous particles, i.e., phase-separated glasses.First, we consider properties of the PCG bulk materials, their potenti...
Since its first creation, glass has always fascinated with its optical properties, its ability to let light through without being invisible. One of the most spectacular achievements of optical glass is the optical fiber for which considerable work has been done to make it as transparent as possible. However, for twenty years, contrary to this quest for transparency, nanoparticles have been inserted into optical fibres. First designed to develop new lasers and amplifiers, the lowest possible particle-induced light scattering then sought has for the last four years, on the contrary, been exacerbated in order to develop new sensors.
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.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.