Enhanced luminescence from erbium doped phosphate glass containing ZnO nanoparticles

Enhancing the up-conversion luminescence and nonlinear optical properties by incorporating various metallic nanoparticles (NPs) into rare earth (RE) doped glass oxides is the key issue towards the fabrication of photonic devices. Series of erbium doped phosphate glasses containing ZnO NPs with composition (78.5-x)P2O5 10Li2O 10ZnO 1.5Er2O3 (x)ZnO, where 0 x 1.2 are prepared by melt quenching technique and their spectroscopic characterization are made. The amorphous nature of the glass is confirmed by XRD spectra. The influence of NPs on the luminescence characteristics using 357 nm excitations is studied and the mechanisms involved in the enhancement on emission intensity are examined. The emission spectra exhibit eight peaks in which the peak intensity of the violet and blue band (413 and 458 nm) shows gradual increment with increasing concentration of ZnO NPs added to the host matrix. The enhancement in the emission peak intensity for the transition is attributed to the effects of quantum confinement and local field of ZnO NPs. The effect of NPs within the glass matrix in influencing the optical properties are analysed and discussed. Our observation may contribute towards the development of nanophotonics