Photoluminescence properties of Ba3B′B″2O9 (B′=Mg, Co or Zn and B″=Nb or Ta) ceramics with perovskite structure

Optical properties of near-stoichiometric compositions of Ba₃B′B″₂O₉ (B′=Mg, Co or Zn and B″=Nb or Ta) perovskite type materials were studied by means of photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Ba₃B′B″₂O₉ perovskites belong to the family of perovskite materials that exhibit phase transition from a completely disordered system having space group Pm-3m to a 1:2 ordered one with space group P-3m1. As revealed by X-ray diffraction, deviation from stoichiometry results in the formation of Ba- and Nb-rich phases. Photoluminescence measurements demonstrated the presence of two broad peaks, the position of which depends on secondary phase formation: the first one, attributed to the disordered Pm-3m phase, is positioned at approximately 430 nm and the second band, positioned at lower energies (i.e., longer wavelengths, around 900 nm), was ascribed to the formation of the 1:2 ordered P-3m1 phase. The position of the first peak is influenced by the bond network through distortions in the local environment caused by the specific electronic structure of the B′ cation.     

Synthesis and characterization of CdS nanoparticles in the presence of oleic acid as solvent and stabilizer

Oleic acid (OA)-capped CdS nanoparticles (NPs) have been successfully synthesized via the direct reaction of Cd(CH₂COO)₂·2H₂O with S powder in OA solvent at 230 °C under nitrogen flow, which was a kind of clean and air-stable solvent. The morphologies and structures of the as-synthesized CdS NPs are examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and the typical Ostwald ripening growth mechanism is concluded. Moreover, the collected ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) absorption spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy demonstrate good optical properties of CdS NPs.     

Luminescence properties of Y3Al5O12:Ce nanoceramics

Comparative analysis of the luminescent properties of Y₃Al₅O₁₂:Ce (YAG:Ce) transparent optical ceramics (OС) with those of single crystal (SC) and single crystalline film (SCF) analogues has been performed under excitation by pulsed synchrotron radiation in the fundamental absorption range of YAG host. It has been shown that the properties of YAG:Ce OC are closer to the properties of the SCF counterpart, where Y_Al antisite defects are completely absent, rather than to the properties of SC of this garnet with large concentration of Y_Al antisite defects. At the same time, the luminescence spectra of YAG:Ce OC show weak emission bands in the 200-470 nm range related to Y_Al antisite defects and charged oxygen vacancies (F⁺ and F centers). YAG:Ce ОС also possesses significantly larger contribution of slow components in the Ce³⁺ luminescence decay under high-energy excitation in comparison with SC and SCF of this garnet due to the involvement of antisite defects, charged oxygen vacancies as well as boundaries of grains in the energy transfer processes from the host to the Ce³⁺ ions.     

Luminescent properties of cobalt-doped α-ZnAl2S4 spinel type single crystals

The absorption and luminescent properties of α-ZnAl₂S₄:Co spinel type crystals grown by chemical transport reactions method are investigated. The spectra are assigned to the electronic transitions of Co²⁺ ions located in tetrahedral sites. It is shown, that the revealed four radiative spectral components are caused by the ²A(²G)→⁴T₁(⁴F), ⁴T₁(⁴P)→⁴T₂(⁴F), ²E(²G)→ ⁴T₂(⁴F) and ²E(²G)→⁴T₁(⁴F) transitions.     

Optical spectroscopy, 1.5 μm emission and up-conversion properties of Er-doped Li3Ba2Gd3(MoO4)8 crystal

Er³⁺:Li₃Ba₂Gd₃(MoO₄)₈ crystal has been grown from a melt of Li₂MoO₄ by the top seeded solution growth method (TSSG). The polarized spectral properties of Er³⁺:Li₃Ba₂Gd₃(MoO₄)₈ crystal were investigated and the spectroscopic parameters were calculated and analyzed based on the Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory. The emission cross-sections were calculated by the Fuchtbauer-Ladenburg (F-L) equation and the peak values of the emission band at 1535 nm were 9.7×10⁻²¹, 7.9×10⁻²¹ and 8.4×10⁻²¹ cm² for E∥b, E∥D1 and E∥D2, respectively. Under 977 nm excitation five up-conversion fluorescence bands around 490, 530, 550, 660 and 800 nm were observed, and the possible up-conversion mechanisms were proposed.     

Red top-emitting organic light-emitting device with improved efficiency and saturated color

In this work, characteristics of microcavity top-emitting red organic light-emitting device (TEROLED) having metallic electrodes had been examined. The TEOLED shows the higher efficiency in comparison with that of the bottom OLED. However, color variation with the increasing view angles is also observed. For the purpose of diminishing the blue-shift of resonant wavelength (RW) in the device with increasing view angle, the effect of out-coupling layer on the emission properties of the TEOLED is discussed in detail. Finally, the out-coupling layer was introduced in theory without sacrificing the efficiency through precise optical simulation.     

Conical parametric scattering of a single extraordinary beam in BaTiO3 crystal

In this paper, the parametric scattering of a single extraordinary polarized beam of laser in BaTiO₃ photorefractive crystal has been investigated experimentally and theoretically. The resulting pattern consists of beam fanning, isotropic ring, and anisotropic one. Among all parts of scattering pattern, isotropic ring has not been studied as much as beam fanning and anisotropic ring, and there still are some differences in reports about it. Therefore, the study has mainly focused on this part. In this experimental configuration, isotropic ring is just visible in positive angles although the other parts of parametric scattering pattern can be visible from behind and in front of the crystal. In addition to steady state pattern in forward and backward directions, its transient behavior with the rotation of crystal has been studied. The results of experiments have been analyzed carefully, and their theoretical explanations have been presented based on the standard theory of parametric scattering in photorefractive crystals. It has been shown that this configuration corresponds to the so called parametric B-process scattering.     

Optical properties of BiSBr and BiSeBr crystals

Optical properties of BiSBr and BiSeBr crystals were investigated by the full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method with density-functional theory (DFT). The complex dielectric function and optical constants, such as optical absorption coefficient, refractive index, extinction coefficient, energy-loss spectrum and reflectivity, were calculated and compared in the energy range of 0–30 eV. Origin of anisotropic behavior of optical spectra was also discussed. The plasmon energy ?ω_p was estimated to be 18 eV for BiSeBr and 20 eV for BiSBr crystal.     

Applications of vertically oriented TiO2 micro-pillars array on the electrode of dye-sensitized solar cell

In this research, dye-sensitized solar cells based on TiO₂ micro-pillars fabricated by inductive couple plasma etcher were investigated by analyses of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle, ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra (UV-vis), and current-voltage characteristics. X-ray diffraction patterns show that the TiO₂ anatase phase forms while sintering at 450 °C for 30 min. The SEM images reveal that the diameter and height of TiO₂ micro-pillars are about 3 and 0.8 μm, respectively. The measurements of contact angle between TiO₂ micro-pillars and deionized water (DI water) reveal that the TiO₂ micro-pillars is super-hydrophilic while annealed at 450 °C for 30 min.The absorption spectrum of TiO₂ micro-pillars is better than TiO₂ thin film and can be widely improved in visible region with N3 dye adsorbed. The results of current-voltage (I-V) characteristics analysis reveal that dye-sensitized solar cell with TiO₂ micro-pillars electrode has better I-V characteristics and efficiency than TiO₂ film electrodes. This result may be due to the annealed TiO₂ micro-pillars applied on the electrode of dye-sensitized solar cell can increase the contact area between TiO₂ and dye, resulting in the enhancement of I-V characteristics and efficiency for dye-sensitized solar cell.     

Refractive index imaging from radiative transfer equation-based reconstruction algorithm: Fundamentals

We present the first reconstruction algorithm for refractive index imaging, which is based on the radiative transfer equation (RTE). An objective function is iteratively minimized to find a solution to the problem of inversion of the refractive index field. The function describes the discrepancies of the emerging light measurements on the surface of the sample to be probed with predicted data from the corresponding numerical model. The unknown refractive index field is updated within each reconstruction iteration according to a search direction on the index distribution given by the adjoint model to the RTE. In this paper, emphasis is placed on the theoretical aspects. Preliminary tests are demonstrated on generic phantoms.