Tunable near-infrared emission and fluorescent lifetime of PbSe quantum dot-doped borosilicate glass

PbSe quantum dots (QDs) were used to dope borosilicate glass with a composition of SiO2-B2O3-Al2O3-ZnO-AlF3-Na2O-PbO-Se, which was prepared using the conventional melt-quenching technique followed by heat treatment. We observed a broad near infrared (NIR) emission (960-1353 nm) band with a full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) value of 168-294 nm and a notable Stokes shift (139-167 nm), which depended on the temperature and duration of the heat treatment. At room temperature, the photoluminescence (PL) lifetime was approximately 1.24-1.92 μs, and it showed a clear dependence on the size and concentration of the QDs. The large FWHM and strong NIR emission of the PbSe QD-doped borosilicate glass may facilitate its application in NIR optical amplifiers and lasers.