STUDIES ON ND-DOPED COLLOIDOPOLYMERIC SILICA XEROGEL

Neodymia-silica laser glasses with homogeneously dispersed neodymia ha ve been developed using neodymium acetate and a sol of fumed silica an d CH3COOH acidified TEOS as precursors. The ease of preparation of bul k glasses with lower hydroxyl content makes the colloido-polymeric (hy brid) route attractive. Density, TEM, SEM-EDAX, refractive index and f luorescence studies all point to the fact that the solubility of neody mium in silica is influenced by the nature of the anionic species of t he neodymium precursor and the relative amount of TEOS-derived silica in the total silica content of the hybrid gel.