Transparent Ni²⁺-Doped MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ Glass Ceramics with Broadband Infrared Luminescence

We report on transparent Ni²⁺-doped MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glass ceramics with broadband infrared luminescence. Ni²⁺-doped MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glass is prepared by using the conventional method. After heat treatment at high temperature, MgAl₂O₄ crystallites are precipitated, and their average size is about 4.3nm. No luminescence is detected in the as-prepared glass sample, while broadband infrared luminescence centred at around 1315nm with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of about 300nm is observed from the glass ceramics. The observed infrared emission could be attributed to the ³T_2g ( ³F) → ³A_2g ( ³F) transition of octahedral Ni²⁺ ions in the MgAl₂O₄ crystallites of the transparent glass ceramics. The product of the fluorescence lifetime and the stimulated emission cross section is about 1.6×10^-24s cm².