Sol-gel derived SnO2-based photonic systems

Chapter "Sol-gel derived SnO2-based photonic systems" in Handbook of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2016) pp. 1-19, Springer International Publishing AG Eds. Lisa Klein, Mario Aparicio, Andrei Jitianu Sol-gel technique is very flexible, simple, and low-cost method to fabricate photonic structures having applications in various field. During sol-gel synthesis, compounds with well-controlled composition can be obtained as thin films, powders, or monoliths. Obtained materials can then be used to prepare photonic structures such as waveguides, photonic crystals, coatings, and bulk glasses. The present chapter is focused on the recent results of different research groups working in the field; some results obtained by the authors in sol-gel-derived photonic structures are also presented. In particular, the silica-tin dioxide system is described. The consideration is mainly focused, but not only, on the spectroscopic properties of rare earth-activated materials that due to the light emission can be used in some specific application such as sensing, biomedical diagnostic, energy conversion, telecommunication, lighting, and photon management