Silica gel-glasses doped with Cr-containing nanoparticles

Transparent silica glasses doped with heat-resistant luminescent nanoparticles with Cr³⁺ ions in the “strong” octahedral crystal field at the sol stage have been synthesized through the direct sol-gel-glass transition. Their electron microscopy and luminescence spectral studies have been performed. It has been found that the nanoparticles incorporated in these glasses are subject to the isotropic compression by the matrix and to slight dissolution (due to the absence of the melt stage) when the optical Cr ⁿ⁺ centers (n = 3–6) are formed.