Germanosilicate glasses containing PbSe quantum dots for mid-infrared luminescence

Abstract Lead selenide quantum dots (QDs) were precipitated in germanosilicate glasses to investigate the effect of GeO 2 content on the precipitation and optical properties. The absorption and photoluminescence (PL) bands red-shifted strongly as GeO 2 concentration increased. After heat-treatment at 470 °C for 10 h, the first excitonic absorption bands red-shifted from 801 nm to 2593 nm as GeO 2 content increased from 0 to 40 mol%, and thus PL at 2619 nm was achieved. The corresponding average QD diameters were 2.48–12.54 nm. The precipitation of large PbSe QDs resulted from the enhancement of diffusion with the increase of GeO 2 concentration, and is the main reason for these red-shifts.