A potential blue photoluminescence material:: ZrO2-SiO2 glasses

nZrO(2)-(100-n)SiO2 (n = 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 wt.%) glasses have been prepared by sol-gel method. Photoluminescence (PL) properties of the samples heated to various temperatures were investigated for the first time. Strong blue emission band centered at 442 nm was observed from sol-gel ZrO2-SiO2 glasses. The blue emission is assigned to defects in the ZrO2-SiO2 network. The heat treatment has a large effect on the PL intensity of the ZrO2-SiO2 samples. The PL intensity is also changed with different ZrO2 content. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.