Preparação e caracterização de novos materiais vítreos e filmes finos flexíveis contendo telúrio para aplicação em fotônica

Abstract

The main purpose of this thesis has been the development of new tellurite and telluride vitreous compositions to obtaining useful amorphous materials for optics. First new binary and ternary systems based on TeO2, GeO2, Sb2O3 and PbF2 were explored in order to prepare thermally and chemically stable vitreous compositions. These glasses were characterized using traditional techniques in the study of non-crystalline materials such as thermal analysis (DSC), vibrational spectroscopy (Raman and IR) and electronic spectroscopy in the ultraviolet, visible and near infrared spectral regions. The results of thermal analysis allowed the determination of the characteristic temperatures, which can be used to evaluate the thermal stability of the glass against crystallization. Structural investigations by electronic and vibrational spectroscopy, used as a structural probe were useful to assess the structural changes in the vitreous network according to the composition. Luminescence studies of glass samples doped with Er³+, codoped with Er³+/Yb³+ and doped with Eu³+, in the most promising compositions were also conducted in order to investigate the effect of composition on optical properties in wavelengths of interest for application as optical devices. Another research line in this thesis was the preparation of thin films on flexible substrates (cellulose and fibroin) from diverse evaporation techniques of chalcogenide glasses with photochromic properties already described in the literature, which in this case was the Ge2Sb2Te5 composition already established for data storage on CDs and DVDs. Thin films were also obtained from the compositions of oxide glasses studied in this work resulting in new flexible thin films with interesting optical properties.