Glasses doped with rare-earth (RE) ions as possible opto-electronic materials have gained considerable interest. Heavy metal oxide glasses have been shown to improve the efficiency of RE ion’s fluorescence properties. The optical absorption and fluorescence properties of RE ions can be optimized by altering the chemical environment around the RE ions. Chemical environment of RE ions can be varied through the glass composition or by introducing metal/semiconducting nanoparticles (NPs) into the host glass matrix. In the present talk, I will discuss the effect of CdSe NPs on the fluorescence properties of praseodymium (Pr3+) ions. These NPs are grown in bismuth-boro tellurite glasses through controlled annealing for different durations. Our results show that the presence of CdSe NPs of certain specific size led to improved fluorescence efficiency of Pr3+ ions. 

About the speaker:

Dr. Mallur obtained her Ph.D. in Solid State Physics from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (1996), India.  She did her post-doctoral work in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Currently she is a full professor at the department of physics, Western Illinois University. Her current research interests are in the synthesis of glasses doped with rare-earth ions and study their electronic and optical properties using optical absorption and fluorescence experiments. In addition, she also investigates the effect of nanoparticles on the optical properties of rare-earth ions in glasses.