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Published on: October 9, 2012
Summary
Investigating neodymium (Nd3+) fluorescence quenching in glass reveals that concentration quenching is not explained by simple models. Higher-order interactions, like exchange or multipole interactions, better describe the observed Nd3+-Nd3+ behavior.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Spectroscopy
- Solid-State Physics
Background:
- Concentration quenching of rare-earth ions in glasses is a critical phenomenon affecting optical properties.
- Understanding the underlying Nd3+-Nd3+ interactions is essential for designing efficient phosphors and lasers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the concentration quenching of 1.06-micron Nd3+ fluorescence in glass.
- To determine the nature of the Nd3+-Nd3+ interactions responsible for fluorescence quenching.
Main Methods:
- Measurement of relative fluorescent efficiency as a function of Nd3+ concentration in thin, polished glass plates.
- Utilized an apparatus designed to minimize instrumental distortion of the fluorescence efficiency curve.
Main Results:
- Fluorescent efficiency decreased exponentially with increasing Nd3+ concentration below 13 x 10^20 cm^-3.
- The exponential decrease deviated at higher Nd3+ concentrations.
- Nd3+ concentration quenching could not be accurately described by dipole-dipole, Perrin, or Stern-Volmer models.
Conclusions:
- The observed Nd3+ concentration quenching is not solely due to dipole-dipole interactions or simple models.
- Exchange interactions, higher-order multipole-multipole interactions, and the Johnson-Williams model provide better descriptions of the experimental data.
