We report significant enhancements in Er(3+) luminescence as well as in Raman intensity in silver nanoparticles embedded zinc-tellurite glass. Surface enhanced Raman scattering effect is highlighted for the first time in tellurite glass containing silver NPs resulting in an enhanced Raman signal (~10 times). SAED manifest the growth of Ag(0) nanoparticles along the (111) and (200) crystallographic planes having average diameter in the range 14-36 nm. Surface plasmon resonance bands are observed in the range 484-551 nm. Furthermore, four prominent photoluminescence bands undergo significant enhancements up to 3 times. The enhancement is majorly attributed to the local field effect of silver NPs.
The visible luminescence from Ge nanoparticles and nanocrystallites has generated interest due to the feasibility of tuning band gap by controlling the sizes. Germanium (Ge) quantum dots (QDs) with average diameter ~16 to 8 nm are synthesized by radio frequency magnetron sputtering under different growth conditions. These QDs with narrow size distribution and high density, characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) are obtained under the optimal growth conditions of 400 °C substrate temperature, 100 W radio frequency powers and 10 Sccm Argon flow. The possibility of surface passivation and configuration of these dots are confirmed by elemental energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. The room temperature strong visible photoluminescence (PL) from such QDs suggests their potential application in optoelectronics. The sample grown at 400 °C in particular, shows three PL peaks at around ~2.95 eV, 3.34 eV and 4.36 eV attributed to the interaction between Ge, GeO(x) manifesting the possibility of the formation of core-shell structures. A red shift of ~0.11 eV in the PL peak is observed with decreasing substrate temperature. We assert that our easy and economic method is suitable for the large-scale production of Ge QDs useful in optoelectronic devices.