Synthesis, Characterization, and Modeling of Rare Earth Ions in Polycrystalline Ceramic and Polymeric Plastic Hosts

多晶陶瓷和聚合物塑料主体中稀土离子的合成、表征和建模

• 批准号: 0602649
• 负责人: Dhiraj Sardar
• 金额: $ 22.54万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at San Antonio
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-07-01 至 2010-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0602649&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Synthesis; Characterization; Modeling; Rare; Earth

Technical: This project aims for greater understanding useful for development of solid-state lasers. Among desired properties are higher power output, higher beam quality, and wider frequency coverage. The project will explore polycrystalline ceramic YAG laser host which may have improved optical, thermal, and physical properties as well as lower cost over traditional single-crystal laser materials. Luminescent polymers will also be considered for light emitting diode and organic based laser applications. A major advantage of rare earth (RE)-doped plastic laser host materials is that they could be drawn into flexible, optical fibers for photonic applications. In this work, six novel dopant-host combinations of RE ions in polycrystalline garnet and polymeric plastic hosts will be studied. Materials will include trivalent RE (Pr, Tm, and Yb) ions that will be individually doped in the polycrystalline ceramic host, Y3Al5O12 (YAG) and a polymeric plastic host. All materials will be characterized using temperature dependent absorption spectroscopy, steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence studies, and laser performance studies. The Judd-Ofelt theory will be used to determine relevant spectroscopic and laser parameters. In addition, modeling of the ligand and crystal field will be performed for the RE ions in these host environments to obtain their energy-level structures. A model Hamiltonian in terms of free-ion or atomic parameters and crystal-field splitting parameters will be utilized to analyze the detailed energy-level structure of these ions which will be compared with measurements. The research is expected to provide an important link between laser parameters and physics fundamentals associated with absorption, emission, excitation, emission cross-section, quantum efficiency, energy transfer between RE ions, fluorescence quenching, Stoke's shift, and the effect of the immediate environment (host) on such processes.Non-Technical: The project addresses basic research issues in a topical area of materials science having technological relevance. The research will contribute materials science knowledge at a fundamental level to new understanding and capabilities in electronic/photonic devices. An important feature of the program is the integration of research and education through the training of students in a fundamentally and technologically significant area. The multidisciplinary nature of this project is aimed to enhance the quality of education at UTSA. UTSA has a strong commitment to train all students, which includes underrepresented minority students from San Antonio and the South Texas region with advanced degrees in science. Efforts will be made to enhance students' participation in research through active recruitment and retention. Because of the large Hispanic student population (55%) at UTSA, the proposed research program will attract a significantly large number of underrepresented students.

技术：该项目旨在更好地了解固态激光器的发展。在期望的特性中，有更高的功率输出、更高的波束质量和更宽的频率覆盖。该项目将探索多晶陶瓷YAG激光器基质，与传统的单晶激光器材料相比，该基质可能具有更好的光学、热学和物理性能以及更低的成本。发光聚合物也将被考虑用于发光二极管和有机基激光应用。稀土（RE）掺杂塑料激光基质材料的主要优点是它们可以被拉成用于光子应用的柔性光纤。在这项工作中，六个新的掺杂剂-主机的稀土离子在多晶石榴石和聚合物塑料主机的组合将进行研究。材料将包括三价RE（Pr、Tm和Yb）离子，这些离子将被单独掺杂在多晶陶瓷主体、Y3 Al 5 O 12（YAG）和聚合塑料主体中。所有材料将使用温度相关吸收光谱、稳态和时间分辨荧光研究以及激光性能研究进行表征。Judd-Ofelt理论将用于确定相关的光谱和激光参数。此外，建模的配体和晶体场将在这些主机环境中的稀土离子进行，以获得其能级结构。自由离子或原子参数和晶体场分裂参数的模型哈密顿量将被用来分析这些离子的详细能级结构，将与测量进行比较。该研究有望在激光参数和与吸收、发射、激发、发射截面、量子效率、稀土离子之间的能量转移、荧光猝灭、斯托克位移以及直接环境（宿主）对这些过程的影响相关的物理基础之间提供重要联系。该项目涉及具有技术相关性的材料科学专题领域的基础研究问题。该研究将有助于材料科学知识在基础层面上对电子/光子器件的新理解和能力。该计划的一个重要特点是通过在一个基本和技术上重要的领域对学生进行培训来整合研究和教育。该项目的多学科性质旨在提高UTSA的教育质量。UTSA坚定地致力于培训所有学生，其中包括来自圣安东尼奥和南德克萨斯州地区的代表性不足的少数民族学生，他们拥有科学高级学位。通过积极招、留，努力提升学生参与研究的能力。由于UTSA的西班牙裔学生人数众多（55%），拟议的研究计划将吸引大量代表性不足的学生。