Transparent Ni 2+ -Doped MgO-Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 Glass Ceramics with Broadband Infrared Luminescence

We report on transparent Ni 2+ -doped MgO–Al 2 O 3 –SiO 2 glass ceramics with broadband infrared luminescence. Ni 2+ -doped MgO–Al 2 O 3 –SiO 2 glass is prepared by using the conventional method. After heat treatment at high temperature, MgAl 2 O 4 crystallites are precipitated, and their average size is about 4.3 nm. No luminescence is detected in the as-prepared glass sample, while broadband infrared luminescence centred at around 1315 nm with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of about 300 nm is observed from the glass ceramics. The observed infrared emission could be attributed to the 3 T 2 g ( 3 F )→ 3 A 2 g ( 3 F ) transition of octahedral Ni 2+ ions in the MgAl 2 O 4 crystallites of the transparent glass ceramics. The product of the fluorescence lifetime and the stimulated emission cross section is about 1.6 × 10 −24 s cm 2 .