Luminescence features of Ho³⁺, Er³⁺ and Tm³⁺ ions in red lead added non‐conventional antimony oxide glass system

Abstract

In this study, a glass system based on heavy metal oxides, namely Pb3O4‐Sb2O3‐SiO2, was prepared with Ho2O3, Er2O3, and Tm2O3 as dopants. The prepared glasses were characterized using XRD and IR studies. The luminescence efficiencies of the three rare earth ions viz., Ho3+, Er3+, and Tm3+ in the glass system were investigated, specifically focusing on green (Ho3+, Er3+), blue (Tm3+), and near‐infrared (NIR) emissions. The optical absorption (OA) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra of RE mixed glasses displayed strong bands in the visible and NIR regions, which were analyzed using J‐O theory. The J‐O coefficients (Ωλ) found to be in the order of Ω2 > Ω4 > Ω6 for all the three glasses. Notably, the Tm3+‐doped glasses exhibited the lowest Ω2 value, which was attributed to a larger degree of disorder in the glass network due to lower fractions of Sb5+ and Pb4+ ions that take part glass network forming. Such conclusion was arrived based on the IR studies. Furthermore, the quantitative analysis of PL spectra and decay curves indicated that SbHo and SbEr glasses are suitable for efficient green emission, while SbTm glass is a promising choice for blue laser emission.