Preparation of Ge/SiO2 nanometer-crystal doped glass and study of its photoluminescence property

Ge/SiO2 nanometer-crystal doped glass was prepared through sol-gel method. The gel was synthesized through the hydrolysis of a complex solution of Si(OC2H5)(4) and Ge(OC2H5)(4). The product gel was then heated at 700 degreesC in H-2. Ge crystals appeared after the heating-reducing process. X ray diffraction analysis showed that there were Ge cubic crystals formed in the gel glass. The photoluminescence spectroscopic analysis showed that the Ge/SiO2 fluorescence peaked at 576 nm with excitation wavelength of 494 nm. By using the Brus quantum confinement model, the fluorescence peak energy suggested that the mean size of Ge crystal was about 3 nm.