Optical properties of lead-tellurite glasses doped with samarium trioxide

The optical properties of a new family of xSm₂O₃-(40-x)PbO-60TeO₂ glasses are investigated. The optical absorption spectra were recorded at room temperature in the UV-visible region. From the absorption edge studies, the values of optical bandgap energies have been evaluated. The refractive index, molar refraction and polarizability of oxide ions have been calculated by using Lorentz-Lorentz relations. The non-linear variations of the above optical parameters are discussed with respect to samarium concentration.     

ESR and optical absorption spectra of Ni(II) ions in lithium fluoroborate glasses

The results of the investigation of the structure of Ni(II) ions in x LiF-(100–x) B₂O₃ glasses with 5x30 mol% using ESR and optical absorption techniques are reported. Electron spin resonance spectra of Ni(II) ions doped glasses exhibit a symmetric line shape centred at g=2.36±0.01 at room temperature. Remarkable changes have been observed in the intensity and line shape with changes in concentration of LiF and when the spectra were recorded in the temperature range 123–453 K. The optical absorption spectra were recorded at room temperature. The observed bands have been interpreted in terms of ligand field theory. From the spectral analysis, the crystal field parameter, Dq, and the Racah interelectronic repulsion parameters, B and C, have been evaluated. By correlating the ESR and optical absorption data, the covalency parameter has been evaluated.     

Synthesis of Er<Superscript>3+</Superscript> and Er<Superscript>3+</Superscript> : Yb<Subscript>3+</Subscript> doped sol-gel derived silica glass and studies on their optical properties

Er₃₊ and Er₃₊ : Yb₃₊ doped optical quality, crack and bubble free glasses for possible use in making laser material have been prepared successfully through sol-gel route. The thermal and optical, including UV-visible absorption, FTIR etc characterizations were undertaken on the samples. The absorption characteristics of Er₃₊ doped samples clearly revealed the absorption due to Er₃₊ ions. On the other hand Yb₃₊ : Er₃₊ doped samples showed enhanced absorption due to² F _7/2 →² F _5/2 transition. The absorption and emission cross-section for² F _7/2 ↔² F _5/2 of Yb³⁺ were estimated. FTIR absorption spectra have clearly shown the reduction of the absorption peak intensity with heat treatment in the range 3700–2900 cm⁻¹. The 960 cm^-1 band also showed progressive decrease in the absorption band peak intensity with heat treatment. The result of the investigations with essential discussions and conclusions have been reported in this paper.     

Some optical properties of Se-Ge-As amorphous chalcogenide glasses

The effects of composition, film thickness, substrate temperature, and annealing of amorphous thin films of Se₇₅Ge_25−x As _x (5⩽x⩽20) on their optical properties have been investigated. X-ray diffraction revealed the formation of amorphous films. The absorbance and transmission of vacuum-evaporated thin films were used to determine the band gap and refractive index. Optical absorption measurements showed that the fundamental absorption edge is a function of glass composition and the optical absorption is due to indirect transition. The energy gap increases linearly with increasing arsenic content. The optical band gap,E _opt, was found to be almost thickness independent. The shapes of the absorption edge of annealed samples displayed roughly the same characteristic as those of the unannealed films, but were shifted towards shorter wavelengths; as a result,E _opt increased andE _e, the width of the band tails, decreases. The increase inE _opt is believed to be associated with void removal and microstructural re-arrangement during annealing. The influence of substrate temperature on the optical parameters is discussed.     

Optical properties of lead-bismuth cuprous glasses

The optical transmission and absorption spectra in UV- VIS were recorded in the wavelength range 350–800 nm for different glass compositions in the system (CuO) _x (PbO) ₅₀−x(Bi₂O₃)₅₀ (x = 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0, 12.5, 15.0, 20.0). Absorption coefficient (α), optical energy gap (E_opt), refractive index (n_D), optical dielectric constant (ε′_∞), measure of extent of band tailing (ΔE), constant (β) and ratio of carrier concentration to the effective mass (N/m*) have been reported. The effects of compositions of glasses on these parameters have been discussed. It has been indicated that a small compositional modification of the glasses lead to an important change in all the optical properties including non-linear behaviour. The optical parameters were found to be almost the same for different glasses in the same family.     

Optical properties of Ge40-x Sb x Se60 glasses

The optical properties of Ge_40-x Sb _x Se₆₀ glasses have been studied in the infrared spectral region and also in the short wavelength region. The spectral dependence of the absorption coefficient in the region of multiphonon absorption, optical gap and average gap was discussed in relation to the chemical composition. It is supposed that the structure of these glasses is complicated due to structural units containing mainly Ge-Se, Sb-Se and also Ge-Ge, Ge-Sb and Sb-Sb bonds.     

The effect of composition and substrate temperature on the optical energy gap of SiOx/SnO amorphous thin films

The fundamental absorption edge of co-evaporated SiO _x /SnO thin films of various compositions has been investigated. The results have been analysed by assuming optical absorption by non-direct electronic transitions. The optical energy gap is seen to decrease with increase in the molar content of SnO which increases the level of disorder of the complex system. The effect of substrate temperature during deposition on the optical absorption is also studied. The optical energy gap increases with the substrate temperature. This is attributed to the annealing of some of the dangling bonds and hence to an increase in the order of the system. The Urbach tail is related to the broadening of the absorption edge as a result of charged defects present in the films and related to the Franz-Keldysh effect.     

Thermal and optical properties of zinc halotellurite glasses

Zinc halotellurite glasses were studied with respect to the glass transition, softening temperature, thermal expansion, optical energy gap, Urbach energy, density, molar volume, refractive index, polarizability, molar refraction and third order non-linear optical susceptibility. Thermal characteristic were determined using a dilatometry. The optical absorption in the wavelength range (300–3200 nm) was measured. From the absorption edge studies, the values of optical band gap (E _opt) and Urbach energy (ΔE) have been evaluated. Optical parameters viz., color dispersion, dispersion energy, E _d, average oscillator energy, E ₀, and third order non-linear optical susceptibility values are estimated from measuring the refractive index at different wavelength. Results obtained are discussed in terms of the glass structure.     

Effect of NiO content on the optical band gap, refractive index, and density of TeO2–V2O5–NiO glasses

Amorphous layers and bulk glasses of 40TeO₂–(60 ? x)V₂O₅–xNiO compositions with 0 ≤ x ≤ 30 (in mol%) have been prepared using the usual blowing technique and press-melt quenching method, respectively. The optical absorption spectra of the layers have been recorded in the wavelength range 400–800 nm. The fundamental absorption edge has been identified from the optical absorption spectra. The optical band gap, width of the tail of the localized states, and refractive index have been evaluated using available theories. Results show that the values of optical band gap decrease from 2.02 to 1.64 eV as the contribution of NiO increases. The refractive index dispersion is fitted to the single oscillator model, and results show that the static refractive index increase from 1.309 to 1.673 as the NiO content increases. The glass transition temperature, density, and molar volume have been studied, indicating act of NiO as network modifier. Values of theoretical optical basicity are also reported.     

Reverse Saturable Absorption Induced by Phonon‐Assisted Anti‐Stokes Processes

In materials showing reverse saturable absorption (RSA), optical transmittance decreases at intense laser irradiation. One approach to application of these materials is to protect the sensors or human eyes from laser damage. To date, research has mainly concentrated on thin films and suspensions of graphite and its nanostructure (including nanotubes, graphene, and graphene oxides), which are mainly used as an optical limiter for nanosecond laser pulses. Moreover, thin individual pieces of semiconductor usually exhibit increased transmittance due to saturable absorption when the laser energy (E_laser) is higher than the band gap (E_B). Here, it is shown that indirect gap semiconductor WSe₂ exhibits high RSA on exposure to a femtosecond laser under E_laser > E_B near band gap excitation, which is attributed to the longitudinal optical phonon‐assisted anti‐Stokes transition by the annihilation of phonons and the absorption of photons. An optical limiting threshold (≈21.6 mJ cm^?2) lower than those reported for other optical‐limiting materials currently for femtosecond laser at 800 nm is observed.     

Film-thickness effects on the optical and electrical properties of Cu-GeO2 thin cermet films

The effect of film thickness on the optical and electrical properties of Cu-30 wt % GeO₂-70 wt % thin cermet films prepared by electron-beam deposition at about 10^–3 Pa and at a substrate temperature of 300 K is reported. The ultraviolet, visible and direct current (d.c.) conductivity results are analysed with the aim of determining the optical band gap,E _opt, the width of the band tails,E _e, and the d.c. thermal activation energy,E _a. It was found that the optical energy gap increases with increasing thickness and that the absorption was due to indirect transitions ink-space. The general feature of the absorption edge remains similar for both unannealed and annealed films, but annealing has the effect of decreasingE _opt. The d.c. conductivity results show thatE _a decreases with increasing thickness. From a knowledge ofE _opt andE _a, a probable model of the electronic band structure in Cu-GeO₂ thin films has been suggested.     

Optical properties of oxide glasses containing transition metals: Case of titanium- and chromium-containing glasses

One of the major driving forces for the development of new glasses is the demand for high optical non-linearity with reduced cost and a higher damage resistance. Oxide glasses with large non-linear refractive index and non-linear absorption coefficient are promising materials for fiber telecommunication and for non-linear optical devices such as ultrafast optical switches, power limiters, real time holography, self-focusing, white-light continuum generation and photonic applications. To get insight into the optical absorption in amorphous materials, studies are still needed for revealing the nature of photoelectronic excitations in these materials by comparison with that in crystals which have been understood firmly based on band theory. Although the IR absorption loss in oxide glasses is larger than of fluorides, low light scattering loss is expected in these oxide glasses because they have lower glass transition temperature. In addition, small concentration of dopant such as alkaline metal and alkaline earth metal elements gives rise to the structural relaxation of the frozen-in density fluctuations even below glass transition temperature T_g, adding to the reduction of T_g as well. A review of the fundamentals and recent research advances in optical properties of oxide glasses containing chromium or titanium is presented.     

Optical parameter studies of thermally evaporated As-Se-Sn glassy system

The optical properties of As₃₀Se_70-xSn_x with (x = 0, 1, 2 and 3 at Sn %) thin films have been investigated. The films used in these studies were thermally evaporated. The structural characterization revealed that the as-deposited films were amorphous in nature. The spectral and optical parameters have been investigated using spectrophotometric measurements of transmittance in the wavelength range (200–1100 nm). The optical constants were determined from the interference maxima and minima using the Swanepole method. The dispersion of the refractive index is discussed in terms of the single-oscillator Wemple-Didomenico model. The optical-absorption edge and the optical band gap are calculated from the absorption coefficient values using the non direct transition model proposed by Tauc’s extrapolation procedure. The relation between the optical gap and chemical composition in As-Se-Sn glassy system is discussed in terms of the average heat of atomization H_s and the average coordination number N_c.     

The optical absorption edge of amorphous thin films of silicon monoxide

The absorption edges of vacuum-evaporated silicon monoxide films are studied and a general equation based on the absorption being due to non-direct electronic transitions in k-space is found to be compatible with the experimental results. The optical energy gap, E _opt, is determined from the high absorption region of the fundamental edge. Measurements on films deposited at different rates and having different thicknesses are analysed and discussed in terms of the values of E _opt. The form of the absorption edge remains similar for annealed films but annealing has the effect of increasing the values of E _opt. The experimental results are related to earlier published work based on measurements of electron spin resonance and refractive index of films prepared under different conditions and additional experiments are reported.     

Optical breakdown in supersonic air jet

The characteristics of a free supersonic air jet with a diameter of 10 mm and Mach numbers within 1.7–3.7 have been studied in the presence of energy supply via pulsed optical discharge generated by a periodic-pulsed mechanically-Q-switched CO₂ laser. The coefficient of laser radiation absorption by optical discharge plasma in supersonic air jet has been studied and it is established that this parameter can reach 60%. It is demonstrated for the first time that a threshold density of air corresponding to sharp growth in the absorption efficiency amounts to 1.8–2 kg/m³ and is independent of the Mach number in airflow. Distributions of the gasdynamic parameters (including dynamic pressure and temperature) in supersonic air jet with energy supply via optical discharge have been determined.     

Structural characterization and novel optical properties of defect chalcopyrite ZnGa2Te4 thin films

Stoichiometric thin film samples of the ternary ZnGa₂Te₄ defect chalcopyrite compound were prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction technique. The elemental chemical composition of the prepared bulk material as well as of the as-deposited film was determined by energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. ZnGa₂Te₄ thin films were deposited, by conventional thermal evaporation technique onto highly cleaned glass substrates. The X-ray and electron diffraction studies revealed that the as-deposited and the annealed ZnGa₂Te₄ films at annealing temperature t_a ≤ 548 K are amorphous, while those annealed at t_a ≥ 573 K (for 1 h), are polycrystalline. The optical properties of the as-deposited films have been investigated for the first time at normal incidence in the spectral range from 500 to 2500 nm. The refractive index dispersion in the transmission and low absorption region is adequately described by the Wemple–DiDomenico single oscillator model, whereby, the values of the oscillator parameters have been calculated. The analysis of the optical absorption coefficient revealed an in-direct optical transition with energy of 1.33 eV for the as-deposited sample. This work suggested that ZnGa₂Te₄ is a good candidate in solar cell devices as an absorbing layer.     

Thermal and optical properties of tellurite glasses doped erbium

Er³⁺-doped tellurite glasses with molar compositions of 75TeO₂–20ZnO–(5 − x) Na₂O–xEr₂O₃ (x = 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4 mol%) have been elaborated from the melt-quenching method. The effects of Er₂O₃ concentration on the thermal stability and optical properties of tellurite glasses have been discussed. From the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) profile, the glass transition temperature T _g, and crystallization onset temperature T _x are estimated. The thermal stability factor, defined as ∆T = T _x − T _g, was higher than 100 °C. It suggests that tellurite glass exhibits a good thermal stability and consequently is suitable to be a potential candidate for fiber drawing. Furthermore, the stability factor increases with Er₂O₃ concentration up to 2 mol% then presents a continue decrease suggesting of beginning of crystallization of highly doped tellurite glasses. The refractive index and extinction coefficient data were obtained by analyzing the experimental spectra of tanΨ and cos∆ measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The complex dielectric functions (ε = ε₁ + iε₂) of the samples were estimated from regression analysis. The fundamental absorption edge has been identified from the optical absorption spectra and was analyzed in terms of the theory proposed by Davis and Mott. The values of optical band gap for direct and indirect allowed transitions have been determined. An important decrease of the optical band gap was found after Er doping. It was assigned to structural changes induced from the formation of non-bridging oxygen. The absorption coefficient just below the absorption edge varies exponentially with photon energy indicating the presence of Urbach’s tail. The origin of the Urbach energy is associated with the phonon-assisted indirect transitions.     

A study of the electrical and optical properties of the GeO2-TeO2 glass system

Results of measurements of the d.c. electrical conductivity, optical absorption edge and infrared optical absorption of GeO₂-TeO₂ glasses are reported. Conduction in these glasses is found to be electronic and the hopping of polarons seems to be the dominant process in the transport mechanism. The electrical activation energy decreases with the increase of tellurium content and this decrease corresponds to a decrease in the optical energy gap. The optical gap is of the order of 2.74 eV, somewhat lower than for many other oxide based glasses. Most of the sharp absorption bands characteristic of the basic materials GeO₂ and TeO₂ are modified with the formation of broad and strong absorption bands in the process of going from the crystalline to the amorphous state. Density measurements show the glasses to have a compact structure.     

Compositional dependence of the optical properties of new quaternary chalcogenide glasses of Ge–Sb–(S,Te) system

New quaternary telluride glassy materials with composition of Ge_xSb_40−xS₅₀Te₁₀ and Ge_xSb_40−xS₅₅Te₅ (x = 10, 20, and 27) have been synthesized and their optical properties have been studied by means of spectroscopic ellipsometry in the range of 400–820 nm. The optical constants, i.e. the refractive index, extinction coefficient, absorption coefficient, and the optical band gap energy are determined and their compositional dependence is considered. These parameters are characteristics for amorphous structure of the synthesized glasses, revealed from the neutron diffraction measurements.     

Size‐Dependent Nonlinear Optical Properties of Atomically Thin Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Nanosheets

Size‐dependent nonlinear optical properties of modification‐free transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanosheets are reported, including MoS₂, WS₂, and NbSe₂. Firstly, a gradient centrifugation method is demonstrated to separate the TMD nanosheets into different sizes. The successful size separation allows the study of size‐dependent nonlinear optical properties of nanoscale TMD materials for the first time. Z‐scan measurements indicate that the dispersion of MoS₂ and WS₂ nanosheets that are 50–60 nm thick leads to reverse saturable absorption (RSA), which is in contrast to the saturable absorption (SA) seen in the thicker samples. Moreover, the NbSe₂ nanosheets show no size‐dependent effects because of their metallic nature. The mechanism behind the size‐dependent nonlinear optical properties of the semiconductive TMD nanosheets is revealed by transient transmission spectra measurements.