Structural studies of silicate glasses with PbS and PbSe nanoparticles

TL;DR

This study investigates the structure and size of PbS and PbSe nanoparticles in silicate glasses using SANS, WXRD, and electron microscopy to understand their optical properties for advanced optical applications.

Contribution

It combines SANS, WXRD, and electron microscopy to analyze nanoparticle formation in PbS and PbSe-doped silicate glasses, providing detailed structural insights.

Findings

Nanoparticles are successfully embedded within the glass matrix.

Size and distribution of nanoparticles are characterized across different samples.

Structural models align with optical property requirements.

Abstract

Optical materials with semiconductor nanoparticles within dielectric matrices are of interest for construction of non-linear optical elements, selective filters, spectral converters, etc. In the present work, we concern the glasses with PbS and PbSe fabricated by the two-step technique on the basis of silicate glass matrix and report the recent studied using the small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) technique. A proper understanding the structure of material, size of particles and spectral features need to control optical functionality of glasses. SANS is efficient non-destructive technique allowing a wide range of structural models in the size range from atomic clusters to submicron size. Here we combine SANS measurements with wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WXRD) and electron microscopy to get information on nanoparticles formed in a series of PbS and PbSe-doped silicate glasses.