Influence of metal and semiconducting nanoparticles on the optical properties of Dy}$^{\mathrm{\mathbf{3+}}}$\textbf{ ions in lead borate glasses.

The effect of glass composition and the influence of Ag, CdSe and ZnSe nanoparticles on the optical absorption and fluorescence of Dy-doped lead borate glasses are studied. Optical absorption and fluorescence spectra of Dy$^{\mathrm{3+}}$ ions show significant changes with glass composition, and the presence of semiconducting nanoparticles. We analyzed the hypersensitive transition, intensity parameters, radiative transition probability, stimulated emission cross section ($\sigma_{p})$, and the area ratio of the yellow to blue peak of Dy$^{\mathrm{3+}}$ ions. Fluorescence spectra of the glass containing CdSe nanoparticles show a well pronounced, characteristic broad emission. Deconvolution of these broad peaks yields average particle sizes that agree with the transmission electron microscope images. $\sigma_{p}$ shows significant increase for the glass containing CdSe nanoparticle of size 8-18 nm. Incorporating CdSe nanoparticles into lead borate glasses can produce significant electronic alterations to the local environment of Dy$^{\mathrm{3+}}$ ions to produce favorable enhancements to its optical properties.