Broadband visible light emission by GeO2-PbO glasses doped with Ag nanoclusters

The applications of silver (Ag) nanoclusters photoluminescence (PL) have been demonstrated in the literature by several results of undoped and rare-earth ions doped glasses using different compositions. As far as we are concerned, there is a lack in the literature regarding Ag nanoclusters in GeO
2
-PbO glasses. Then the present investigation shows the production of silver (Ag) nanocluster in GeO
2
-PbO glasses by using the melt-quenching technique followed by adequate annealing. Different temperatures were used for the annealing (below and above the glass transition temperature) to evaluate the best condition to produce Ag nanoclusters. These glasses emit a broad luminescence band covering the whole visible range extending to the near infrared, (400-900 nm) under excitation at 355 nm; annealing below the glass transition temperature favors Ag nanoclusters production whereas above this temperature, Ag nanoparticles are easily obtained. The present investigation shows that these materials have potential applications in broadband visible light sources, CW lasers tunable across the whole visible range and panel displays based on the selection of red, green and blue light of the Ag nanoclusters emission band.