Ni2+-doped new silicate glass-ceramics for broadband near infrared luminescence

Abstract The new composite transparent spinel silicate glass–ceramics containing Ni 2+ -doped ZnGa 2 O 4 and solid solution Mg x Zn 1−x Ga 2 O 4 nanocrystals were fabricated by in situ controlled crystallization method. After heat treatment, the crystal phase content of ZnGa 2 O 4 increase with increasing heat treatment temperature, and the Mg 2+ ions could enter the crystal lattice of ZnGa 2 O 4 to replace the Zn 2+ ions and form a new solid solution Mg x Zn 1−x Ga 2 O 4 . The coordination environment of Ni 2+ was changed from tetrahedral in glasses to octahedral sites in glass ceramics. The super-broadband infrared luminescence with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of about 400 nm overing 1.1–1.7 μm wavelength region and fluorescent lifetime of about 480 μs were observed from the glass ceramics containing Mg x Zn 1−x Ga 2 O 4 nanocrystals. It is probably due to the variety of solid solution structure making Ni 2+ ions enter two different octahedral sites. At the same time, the impact of heat treatment temperature and the concentration of NiO on peak position and intensity were also discussed. The results demonstrate that the method presented may be an effective way to fabricate super-broadband optical amplifiers and tunable lasers.