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Aluminum oxynitride, which can be regarded a nitrogen-stabilized cubic γ-Al2O3, has attracted attention in terms of its good mechanical, chemical and optical stability. Because of its optical inertness, however, photoluminescence (PL) emission from nominally pure aluminum oxynitride has not been carefully investigated and evaluated. In this work, we prepared visibly luminescent aluminum oxynitride by nitridation of γ-Al2O3 under N2 atmosphere without adding AlN using a high-frequency induction heating unit. The resulting aluminum oxynitride exhibits a broad PL emission in the blue/green spectral region under excitation with light of ~260 nm. In the luminescent aluminum oxynitride sample, the excitation and emission events will occur at different sites; the electron transfer from the excitation site to the emission site is preceded by the radiative recombination process. It has also been found that the PL peak wavelength shows an anomalous blue shift by ~50 nm with increasing temperature from 78 to 500 K. The observed temperature dependent PL characteristics are governed by thermalization among multiple emitting levels. Aluminum vacancies and oxygen vacancies, both of which are introduced into the crystalline lattice during nitridation without the presence of AlN, are very likely candidates for the excitation and emission centers, respectively. Hence, the present direct nitridation method provides a simple and effective way to add an additional optical functionality to otherwise optically inactive aluminum oxynitride. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Structure of xPbO–(100−x)SiO2 (x=25–89) glasses has been investigated by means of the X-ray and neutron diffraction and 29Si MAS NMR measurements. In the radial distribution functions of all the glasses, the Pb–O correlation was observed at 0.23 nm, indicating that the PbO3 trigonal pyramids units do exist in the whole glass forming composition range. Furthermore the existence of the first Pb–Pb correlation at ∼0.385 nm in the whole composition range suggests that the basic structural unit is considered to be a Pb2O4 unit, which consists of the edge-shared PbO3 trigonal pyramids. These results strongly imply that the Pb2O4 units participate in the glass network constructed by SiO4 tetrahedra even at low PbO content. Differing from other lead-containing glass systems, these structural characteristics of Pb ions in the PbO–SiO2 glass system are responsible for the extremely wide glass-forming region.

The photochemical transformation mechanism of defects in germanosilicate and silica glasses under ultraviolet (UV) laser irradiation has been investigated based on the changes in Raman spectra before and after irradiation. Two types of silica glasses, fused silica (type I) and dry synthetic silica (type IV), and germanosilicate optical fiber preforms were irradiated by intense UV photons from excimer lasers. Spectral changes in optical absorption and Raman spectra were examined to clarify a correlation between the microscopic defect formation and the macroscopic structural changes causing a photorefractive effect. Successive generation of E′ centers through divalent centers is closely correlated with changes in Raman spectra, indicating that large structural changes in the glass network involved in this process would be the origin of photon-induced densification of the glasses. In addition, it has been proposed that the successive generation of E′ centers is mediated by transient divalent centers converted from relaxed cation homobondings.

The structure of PbO–B2O3 glasses has been investigated in the composition range of 25–80 mol% PbO by using X-ray diffraction and 11B NMR techniques. The well-separated peaks due to Pb–O and Pb–Pb pairs were first observed in the radial distribution function, and peak deconvolution was performed by using a pair function method. The average coordination number of lead atoms was determined to be about 6 in the low-PbO-content region and about 3 in the high-PbO-content region. With an increase of PbO content, the peaks at 0.24 and 0.40 nm shifted to shorter distances, and especially the latter peak drastically increased in intensity in the composition range >50 mol% PbO. It was suggested that PbO is a main glass former in the high-PbO-content region. Based on the results obtained, we propose structural models of lead borate glasses.

Infrared spectra of thin films (a few micrometers) of hydrated sodium silicate glasses after heating at temperatures from 100° to 400°C were measured in the spectral region from 400 to 4300 cm−1. Also, Raman spectra of hydrated glasses were measured in the region from 100 to 1400 cm−1. Water molecules in hydrated glasses were classified into three types by the bonding configuration: water molecules interacting with Si–OH groups, nonbridging oxygens, and bridging oxygens. On the basis of the fundamental bands observed here, we calculated the wave numbers of the combination-overtone bands of water molecules and SiOH groups in hydrated glasses. The calculated wave numbers satisfactorily agreed with observed wave numbers in the nearinfrared region.

Attenuated total reflectance Fouriertransform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectra were measured in the region from 4300 to 400 cm−1 for a hydrated Na2O–SiO2 glass containing 35 wt% water. The Si–OH bending vibration mode was observed. It was found that the incorporated water, molecular water as well as hydroxyls, affected the Si–O vibrations. The effect of incorporated water upon the glass structure is discussed.