Active glass nanoparticles by ultrafast laser pulses

The authors have successfully demonstrated a method employing pulsed-laser ablation of active glass to produce nanoparticles exhibiting upconversion, pumped by near-infrared wavelengths and emitting visible light. A high repetition rate ultrashort pulsed laser was used to ablate glass under atmospheric conditions. Ejected particles collected were analysed by electron microscopy to determine particle size and characterise the morphology. The measured mean particle diameter was ∼17 nm. A bright upconversion green emission was observed from the nanoparticles almost in a similar fashion as from the bulk specimen. The upconversion photoluminescence characteristics have been investigated to explore potential applications for efficient bioimaging and light-emitting devices.