Abstract
We present the details of the sol-gel processing used to realize inverse silica opal, where the silica was activated with 0.3 mol% of Er3+ ions. The template (direct opal) was obtained assembling polystyrene spheres of the dimensions of 260 nm by means of a vertical deposition technique. The Er3+-activated silica inverse opal was obtained infiltrating, into the void of the template, the silica sol doped with Er3+ ions and subsequently removing the polystyrene spheres by means of calcinations. Scanning electron microscope showed that the inverse opals possess a fcc structure with a air hollows of about 210 nm and a photonic band gap, in the visible range, was observed from reflectance measurements. Spectroscopic properties of Er3+-activated silica inverse opal were investigated by luminescence spectroscopy, where, upon excitation at 514.5 nm, an emission of 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 of Er3+ ions transition with a 21 nm bandwidth was observed. Moreover the 4I13/2 level decay curve presents a single-exponential profile, with a measured lifetime of 18 ms, corresponding a high quantum efficiency of the system.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
S. M. Yang, H. Mìguez, and G. A. Ozin, Funct. Mater., 12 (2002), 425.
R. W. J. Scott, S. M. Yang, G. Chabanis, N. Coombs, D. E. Williams, and G. A. Ozin, Adv. Mater., 13 (2001), 1469.
A. Chiappini, C. Armellini, S.N.B. Bhaktha, A. Chiasera, M. Ferrari, Y. Jestin, M. Mattarelli, M. Montagna, E. Moser, G. Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, G.C. Righini, and V. M. Sglavo, SPIE, 6182 (2006), 454.
A. A. Zakhidov, R. H. Baughman, Z. Iqbal, C. Cui, I. Khayrullin, S. O. Dantas, J. Marti, and V. G. Ralchenko, Science, 282 (1998), 897.
Y.-H. Ye, F. LeBlanc, A. Hache’, and V.-V. Truong, Appl. Phys. Lett., 78 (2001), 52.
M. Loncar, T Yoshie, A. Scherer, P. Gogna, and Y.M. Qiu, Appl. Phys. Lett., 81 (2002), 2680.
H. Ichikawa and T. Baba, Appl. Phys. Lett., 84 (2004), 457.
M.A.R.C. Alencar, G. S. Maciel, C. B. de Araujo, R. Bertholdo, Y. Messaddeq, and S. J.L. Ribeiro, J. Non Crystal. Solids, 351 (2005), 1846.
J. Zhou, R. Zong, M. Fu, and L. Li, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 89 (2006), 2308.
P. Lodahl, A. F. van Driel, I. S. Nikolaev, A. Irman, K. Overgaag, D. Vanmaekelbergh, and W. L. Vos, Nature, 430 (2004), 654.
S. Jeon, and P. V. Braun, Chem. Mat., 15 (2003), 1256.
Y. Liu, X. Xu, D. Zhang, B. Cheng, and D. Zhang, Appl. Phys. Lett., 86 (2005), 151102.
L. K. Teh, K. H. Yeo, and C.C. Wong, Appl. Phys. Lett., 89 (2006), 051105-1.
A. Richel, N. P. Johnson, and D. W. McComb, Appl. Phys. Lett., 76 (2000), 1816.
G. Ghosh, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 78 (1995), 2828.
S.N.B. Bhaktha, B. Boulard, S. Chaussedent, A. Chiappini, A. Chiasera, E. Duval, C. Duverger, S. Etienne, M. Ferrari, Y. Jestin, M. Mattarelli, M. Montagna, A. Monteil, E. Moser, H. Portales, and K.C. Vishunubhatla, Opt. Mat., 28 (2006), 1325.
W.J. Miniscalco, J. of Light. Tech., 9 (1991), 234.
M.J.A de Dood, L.H. Slooff, A. Polman, A. Moroz, and A van Blaaderen, Appl. Phys. Lett., 79 (2001), 3585.
M.J.A. de Dood, L.H. Slooff, A. Polman, A. Moroz, and A. van Blaaderen, Phy. Rev. A, 64 (2001), 033807-1.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The work has been supported by the MIUR-FIRB RBNE012N3X, MIUR PRIN, PAT FAPVU 2004–2006, GRICES-CNR.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chiappini, A., Armellini, C., Chiasera, A. et al. Er3+-activated silica inverse opals synthesized by the solgel method. Optoelectron. Lett. 3, 184–187 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11801-007-6194-0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11801-007-6194-0