Oxides of third period elements revisited: Synthesis, structure and photoluminescence properties of silica, magnesia, and alumina

Abstract

Silica (SiO2), magnesia (MgO), and alumina (Al2O 3) are principal oxides composed of third period elements. These oxides are prerequisite materials in the field of ceramic science and technology but are not regarded as functional materials in their pure forms. In our recent publications, however, we have demonstrated that these refractive oxides can exhibit efficient ultraviolet/ visible emissions by carefully controlling their microscopic structure and stoichiometry without adding any activator metals. Some intriguing properties, such as white light emission, random lasing, photoinduced reversible interconversion of color centers, have been achieved. The present approach will open up new routes and new strategic issues to produce highly functionalized materials consisting solely of third period elements. © 2010 The Ceramic Society of Japan.