Photoluminescence & structural studies of Ag: Alkali Bismuth Silicate glasses

In this paper, we demonstrate the luminescence enhancement of Alkali Bismuth Silicate glasses through Silver incorporation. Silver has been incorporated into the glass matrix through three methods, namely by melt quench, ion implantation, and in-situ sputtering. Absorption spectra of the glasses show an inhomogeneously broadened surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak along with the Bi2+ peak of Bismuth. The inclusion of Silver into the glass, by all three methods, enhances the photoluminescence and among them, in-situ sputtering gives better enhancement. Photoluminescence of the glasses is increasing with an increase in Ag-O intensity. Raman spectra is recorded to explore the role of glass structure in enhancement of luminescence viz., Silver oxide formation, Oxygen defect centers, etc,. The ion-implanted samples show Oxygen defect centers which deteriorate the luminescence intensity. CIE 1931 chromaticity colour coordinates (x,y) correlated colour temperature (CCT) and colour purity (CP) values were also determined from the photoluminescence data. •Ag incorporated in to the glass by melt quenching, ion implantation and in-situ sputtering.•The overlap of emission and surface plasmon resonance peaks enhance luminescence.•Luminescence can be tuned using Ag.