Dynamical Processes in Sol-Gel Derived Rare-Earth Doped Glasses

We have investigated the dynamical processes of rare-earth photoluminescence in silica glasses produced by the sol-gel method. Generally, static spectroscopic properties are used as a tool to probe the local structure near dopants as well as for the study of glass formation. Rare earth ions are preferred structural probes, especially the Eu3+ ion for its sensitivity to local structural modifications and its spectroscopic simplicity. By an analysis of the decaying emission that follows a pulsed laser excitation, we have studied several dynamical processes. Importance of a distribution of different environments for the dopant is clearly seen even for the wet gels. The evolution of the lifetimes allow to study the densification process.