Eu Incorporation into Sol–Gel Silica for Photonic Applications: Spectroscopic and TEM Evidences of α-Quartz and Eu Pyrosilicate Nanocrystal Growth

The problem of Eu incorporation into silica as dispersed dopants, clusters, separate-phase nanoparticles, or nanocrystals, which is of key importance for applications in the fields of lasers and scintillators, is faced by applying to sol–gel silica doped with nine different Eu3+concentrations (0.001–10 mol % range) various spectroscopic techniques, including crystal field and vibrational mode analysis by means of Fourier transform absorption and microreflectivity (in the 200–6000 cm–1and 9–300 K ranges), radioluminescence, and Raman scattering studies at 300 K. The variety of methods revealed the following concordant results: (1) amorphous Eu clusters grow when the Eu concentration is increased up to 3 mol % and (2) Si–OH groups are completely removed and ordered phase separation occurs at 10 mol % doping, as suggested by the remarkable narrowing of the spectral lines. Comparison with polycrystalline Eu oxide, Eu silicates, and α-quartz spectra allowed the unequivocal identification of Eu2Si2O7pyrosilicate and α-quartz as the main components of nanocrystals in 10 mol % Eu-doped silica. Such conclusions were brilliantly confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction analysis. Phonon coupling and anharmonicity were analyzed and are discussed for a few vibrational modes of nanocrystals.