Aerogels: A new material for emissive display applications

The remarkable optical and electronic properties of doped and undoped silica aerogels establish their utility as unique, multifunctional host materials for fluorescent dyes and other luminescent materials for display and imaging applications. We present results on the photoluminescence and absorption of undoped silica aerogels and aerogels doped with Er{sup 3+}, rhodamine 6G (R6G), and fluorescein. We also demonstrate evidence of Fowler-Nordheim tunneling of electrons in aerogels. 4 refs., 10 figs.