Quantum confinement effects of semiconductor microcrystallites (CuC1) embedded in a glassy (aluminoborosilicate) matrix are of current interest due to their exceptional nonlinear optical properties. The precipitation of microcrystals occurs upon heat-treatment of a glass in a supersaturated solution. The time and/or temperature of heat-treatment and the degree of supersaturation of the solution determines the size of the microcrystals. This paper characterizes the microcrystals using TEM when the heat-treatment conditions are varied. Room temperature ESR measurements were performed in order to determine the ratio of Cu2 to Cu'' in the glass at various compositions before heat-treatment. Low temperature optical absorption data were jobtained to study the quantum confinement and the effect of varying the microcrystal size. I.

Date Published: 1 October 1990
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 1327, Properties and Characteristics of Optical Glass II, (1 October 1990); doi: 10.1117/12.22525

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1327:
Properties and Characteristics of Optical Glass II
Alexander J. Marker III, Editor(s)