Nanocrystals distribution inside the writing lines in a glass matrix using Argon laser irradiation

Localized modification in strontium barium niobate glass doped with Ho(3+) under laser irradiation has been carried out. The preliminary samples of this study have been fabricated by the melt quenching method and doped with 2.5% mol of Ho(3+). A 3.5W cw multiline Ar-laser has been focused and shifted in a line during laser irradiation. The formation of Strontium Barium Niobate nanocrystals has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscope image and fluorescence. They have been localized in the irradiation line and change the optical properties of the sample. These nanocrystals have been obtained due to the excitation of the Ho(3+) ions which under nonradiative processes produced the heating of the sample. In this work, it has been demonstrated that the diffusion of the Nb(5+) ions to the border of the irradiated line controls the growth of the nanocrystals in the sample.