The project deals with the synthesis and characterization of Ti (III)-doped glasses via sol-gel processing techniques. The Principal Investigator proposes to develop a new tunable glass laser material which utilized Ti (III) as the active ion. The experimental work will emphasize the development of the chemistry and physcial processing requirements associated with the formulation of Ti (III)-doped glass monoliths of the silicate type via sol-gel processing technique. Both pure silicates and alkaline earth silicate formulation will be conducted in a reducing atmosphere. A laser scattering analysis method will be employed to characterize the optical quality of the resulting glass structures. Subsequent spectroscopy characterization will include analysis of the absorption and fluorescence spectra of the formulated glass. Ti (III)-doped sapphire solid-state laser has an extremely braod tuning range of 600 to 968 nm. This material exhibits similar optical characeristics as pure sapphire, while affording the added advantage of shaping capability. Presently, no research work is known on glass laser material with Ti (III) as the active ion. A glass laser material with a tuning range which includes the visible light spectra would provide numerous applications in the communications technology.
