Synthesis and characterization of chloro-sulphide glass-ceramics containing neodymium(III) ions

In this paper, we describe the preparation of Nd3+ doped glass-ceramics in the (GeS2)70-(Ga2S3)20-(CsCl)10 system. Neodymium has been introduced as metallic powder or incorporated as sulphide. Appropriate heat treatments of the base-glass lead to glass-ceramics with controllable crystal sizes that are transparent in the visible and infrared spectral ranges. X-ray diffraction as well as electron diffraction techniques were used to investigate the crystallization process. Differential scanning calorimetry indicates that neodymium ions are poor nucleating agents in this glass compared to erbium ions. Luminescence measurements were also performed and point out that although the ceramization process increases significantly the luminescence efficiency, the neodymium ions are only partially incorporated in the nanocrystals.