Structural, optical and luminescence properties of Nd3+ ions in B2O3+SiO2+TeO2+Na2O glasses

Holistic Assessment of NIR-Emitting Nd3+-Activated Phosphate Glasses: A Structure–Property Relationship Study

“…The densities for the Nd-containing glasses in Table then increase steadily with Nd 2 O 3 replacing BaO, analogous to the effect seen for europium substituting barium in the glass system . The trend of increasing density is also consistent with reports from other groups for different glass systems wherein the concentration of Nd 2 O 3 is increased. ,, The average molar masses in Table increase steadily as anticipated, a trend also exhibited for the molar volumes throughout the entire glass set within the 39.90–40.99 cm 3 /mol range. With the increase in Nd 2 O 3 contents in the 0.5–4Nd glasses, the Nd 3+ concentrations vary within the 1.49–11.75 × 10 20 ions/cm 3 range.…”

“…The UV absorption edge of the glasses may be further examined in the context of Tauc and Urbach plots. ,,,− The following expression for the absorption coefficient, α, as a function of photon energy ( hν ) may be utilized to estimate the optical band gap energy, E opt α ( ν ) = ξ ( h ν − E opt ) 2 h ν where the exponent of 2 is associated with allowed indirect transitions anticipated for glasses and ξ is a constant. , The corresponding Tauc plots of ( Eα ) 1/2 vs photon energy ( hν ) generated are shown in Figure a, which were used to estimate E opt from extrapolation of the linear portion to obtain the intercept on the energy axis. The E opt values determined are presented in Table .…”

“…The Urbach energy, E U , associated with band tailing reflecting defects/disorder may be evaluated next from the following relation α ( ν ) = α 0 0.25em exp nobreak0em0.25em⁡ ( h ν E U ) where α 0 is a constant and hν is the photon energy. ,, Accordingly, the Urbach energy of the studied glasses was evaluated from the ln(α) vs hν plot as shown in Figure b. The E U values determined are presented together with the indirect optical band gaps in Table .…”

“…Glasses activated with near-infrared (NIR)-emitting Nd 3+ ( f 3 ) ions have been the subject of extensive research, given their use in high-power lasers − and more recently being interesting in the context of solar spectral converters. − Among the numerous glass matrices available, phosphate-based glasses are particularly attractive, given their high metal solubility, suitable thermal properties (e.g., low-melting character), and associated low production costs and manufacturability. − Studying the composition–structure–property relationship in this type of glass systems is thus of interest from fundamental and applied perspectives.…”

“…Muñoz-Quiñonero et al reported more comprehensively on various optical, structural, and thermal properties of Nd 3+ -doped aluminophosphate glasses. Still, such types of studies encompassing a wide range of characterizations for an in-depth analysis are scarce. , Hence, there appear to be opportunities for investigating further the connection of fundamental structural properties assessed, for instance, through spectroscopic techniques together with thermal and optical properties. Of great value in this sense are wide-ranging spectroscopic characterizations which help elucidate the different contributions of the constituents to glass structure and the consequent impact on thermomechanical and optical properties of interest.…”