Kumi Barimah, E, Rahayu, S, Ziarko, MW et al. (5 more authors) (2020) Erbium-Doped Nanoparticle–Polymer Composite Thin Films for Photonic Applications: Structural and Optical Properties. ACS Omega, 5 (16). pp. 9224-9232. ISSN 2470-1343
Abstract
Erbium-doped nanocrystal (NC)-dispersed polymer thin films are attractive core materials for use in optical waveguides as they can provide high optical gain and enable the formation of compact waveguide amplifiers. Nonetheless, there are significant challenges associated with obtaining good dispersibility of NCs into a polymer matrix and favorable optical properties. Therefore, in this paper, we report the fabrication of Er3+-doped ceria (EGC) NCs employing the Leeds alginate process (LAP) and their incorporation into a siloxane polymer matrix. The surface morphology and compositional, structural, and optical properties of the fabricated films are evaluated to assess the NC dispersion and their suitability for the waveguide amplifier. The photoluminescence (PL) and lifetime measurements of the NCs–polymer nanocomposite thin film samples show intense, broadband PL emission of the Er3+ ions at 1534 nm (4I13/2 → 4I15/3 transition) with a full width at half-maximum (fwhm) of ∼64 nm and lifetime in the range of 2.6–3.0 ms. The inhomogeneously broadened PL spectra and improvement in lifetime of NCs in the polymer are important results that we report. The EGC NCs–polymer nanocomposite thin films also exhibit excellent transparency in the NIR wavelength range and a refractive index in the range of 1.53–1.58 in the visible wavelength. The work presented here clearly demonstrates the potential of using high-quality Er-doped nanocomposite polymer thin films for interesting applications such as compact low-cost waveguide amplifiers and lasers.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 American Chemical Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Thin films; Nanocomposites; Optical properties; Waveguides; Polymers |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 07 Apr 2020 15:13 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:13 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acsomega.0c00040 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:159067 |