Effect of nano-scale crystal field on the broadening of Er3+- emission in sodium tellurite glass ceramics.

In this paper we report the effect of heat treatment of 10 mol% Na(2)O-89.5 mol% TeO(2) glass for studying the fluorescence and line broadening behavior of Er-ions in the glass-ceramic matrix. Controlled crystal growth measurements using the X-ray line broadening technique for samples heat treated in the temperature range of 583-693 K were carried out and compared with the photoluminescence studies. The influence of crystal growth on line broadening of (4)I(13/2) spectra and metastable lifetime of (4)I(13/2) level is compared for various heat treatment temperatures. The full-width-of- half maxima increase with increasing heat treatment temperature and then fall rapidly at high temperatures.