In situ isothermal monitoring of the enhancement and quenching of Sm3+ photoluminescence in Ag co-doped glass

A novel in situ concurrent photoluminescence and absorption microspectroscopy technique is proposed for the real-time monitoring of the optical properties of rare-earth and noble metal co-doped dielectrics during isothermal processing. The technique has been successfully applied to an Ag and Sm co-doped phosphate glass, where both enhancement and quenching regimes of Sm3+ luminescence have been observed well separated in time, practical for an ‘optical tuning’ of the solid-state luminescent material. Further, relating simultaneously the luminescence with the time evolution in optical absorption allowed for discerning the effects of Ag non-plasmonic clusters as enhancers and nanoparticles as quenchers. Opportunities come forward for studying a variety of systems with relevance to a wide range of applications.