The luminescence and structure of novel transparent oxyfluoride glass-ceramics

New transparent oxyfluoride glass-ceramics can provide a low phonon energy fluoride environment for active rare earth ions while maintaining the formability and physical properties of an oxide glass. Transparent glass-ceramics were made by casting crucible melted glass onto a steel plate and subsequently heating the resultant glass patty above the glass transition temperature to nucleate and grow LaF3 crystals. Eu3+ doped glasses emit only red luminescence from the D-5(0) level but after heat treatment emit blue, green, and red luminescence indicative of a low phonon energy rare earth environment. TEM micrographs and XRD show no features in the base glass, but do show extensive LaF3 crystallites after heat treatment that are responsible for the novel optical properties of these hybrid materials. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.