Fluorescence line narrowing and decay dynamics in sol-gel glasses containing Eu3+

Fluorescence line narrowing and emission decay measurements on Eu3+ doped sol-gel glasses have been used to investigate and compare local Eu3+ environments in binary SiO2-TiO2 glasses, SiO2 glasses containing Al3+, and SiO2 glasses without co-dopant. In particular, clustering of rare-earth ions and the effects of annealing temperature on residual hydroxide concentration are studied. The Al and Ti co-doped samples show pronounced line-narrowing implying little energy migration among Eu3+ ions. The D-5(0)-F-7(J) fluorescence decays are faster in the Ti glasses. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.