Controlled growth of SnO₂ nanocrystals in Eu³⁺-Doped SiO₂-SnO₂ planar waveguides: a spectroscopic investigation

S.N.B. Bhaktha (1, 2, 3, 4) , C. Kinowski (1, 4) , M. Bouazaoui (4, 5) , B. Capoen (4, 5) , O. Cristini (1, 4) , F. Beclin (6) , P. Roussel (7) , M. Ferrari (2) , S. Turrell (1, 4)

1 LASIRE - Laboratoire Avancé de Spectroscopie pour les Intéractions la Réactivité et l'Environnement - UMR 8516
2 CSMFO group
3 LPMC - Laboratoire de physique de la matière condensée
4 CERLA - Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Lasers et Applications
5 PhLAM - Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molécules - UMR 8523
6 LSPES - Laboratoire de structures et propriétés de l'état solide - UMR 8008
7 UCCS - Unité de Catalyse et Chimie du Solide - UMR 8181

We report on the fabrication of Eu³⁺-doped SiO₂−SnO₂ low-loss (0.8 dB/cm at 632.8 nm) glass-ceramic planar waveguides, fabricated by the sol−gel technique and dip-coating processing. The effects of heat treatments on the growth and evolution of SnO₂ nanocrystals in the matrix were investigated using different spectroscopic tools. In situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction allowed for the determination of the crystallization temperature and confirmed the formation of tetragonal rutile SnO₂ crystals. The effect of crystallization on the optical properties and on the photoluminescence of Eu³⁺ ions was also studied. Low-frequency Raman scattering was successfully used to determine the crystal size, and the results obtained were found to be consistent with transmission electron microscopy measurements. The breakage of Si−O−Sn linkages during the formation of SnO₂ nanocrystals in the matrix was investigated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.

Domaines: Chimie-Physique [physics.chem-ph]; Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

S.N.B. Bhaktha, C. Kinowski, M. Bouazaoui, B. Capoen, O. Cristini, et al.. Controlled growth of SnO₂ nanocrystals in Eu³⁺-Doped SiO₂-SnO₂ planar waveguides: a spectroscopic investigation. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2009, 113, pp.21555 - 21559. ⟨10.1021/jp907764p⟩. ⟨hal-00452855⟩