Search for: All records

Nowadays there is a great demand for LED bulbs which are replacing incandescent light bulbs. LED bulbs are compact, rugged, and free from pollution. Diodes emit a single wavelength. However, phosphor coated diodes generate white light on exposure to blue or violet light. Global research is ongoing to design phosphor coatings which emit high intensity in a broad spectral wavelength region. We are also investigating different phosphor materials to address this issue. We are investigating the suitability of europium doped crystals and glasses for this purpose. Crystals used for this study were procured from commercial sources and the glasses were made in our laboratory by the melt quenching technique. The glass samples were then polished with sandpapers of different grades. Detailed spectroscopy measurements were performed to characterize the materials. Absorption spectral measurements of the materials were performed using a Cary 3E spectrophotometer. Emission was stimulated from the samples by exposing them to blue or violet diode lasers. A compact spectrometer was used for fluorescence spectral measurements. Emission spectral data and lifetime measurements were used for unambiguous spectroscopic assignments. From the emission spectral measurements, color coordinates and color temperature were derived. 

Tellurium oxide-based glasses were made by the melt quenching technique. Appropriate quantities of the chemicals were weighed, mixed/ ground, and then melted above the melting point for an hour. Samarium and Silver compound were added to the starting chemicals. The melt was poured into an aluminum mold to get different shapes and sizes. The spectroscopic characterization of the samples was done by using different laser excitation sources. Silver metallic particles were induced by heat treating the glass above its glass transition temperature. Absorption and emission measurements revealed enhanced characteristics. 

Plasmonic metasurfaces composed of arrays of rectangular metallic bars are well known for their strong optical response in the infrared spectral range. In this study, we explore the polarization sensitivity of plasmonic metasurfaces for encoding information. The polarization-sensitive optical response depends strongly on the orientation of the metallic bars allowing the encoding of information into the metasurface. Here we demonstrate that a 2-dimensional polarization encoded metasurface can be obtained by using mask-less two-photon polymerization techniques. This novel approach for the fabrication of plasmonic metasurfaces enables the rapid prototyping and adaptation of polarization sensitive metasurfaces for the encoding of multiplexed images.