Chromium-doped borate glasses are appealing for potential optical applications as they feature distinct optical transitions in the visible and ultraviolet spectral regimes. However, such intense UV transitions are often screened in borate glasses due to their proximity to the bulk absorption edge. Here, we utilize variable concentrations of the wide band gap Gd₂O₃ dopant to detach these near-edge optical transitions. The amorphous nature of all Gd₂O₃-doped borate glass samples, containing a fixed Cr amount, was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Gd₂O₃ additives were found to enforce the compactness of the glassy network as inferred from the increased experimental density and calculated average boron-boron separation. Analysis of the infrared spectra revealed the essential vibration modes of structural units, the non-bridge oxygen, and the fraction of tetrahedrally-coordinated boron atoms ratios. These ratios together with a noticeable BO₃ to BO₄ conversion suggest an open glass structure with enlarged band gap energy. The latter is confirmed by recording the optical absorption spectra for all samples, which exhibited clear blue shifts of the absorption edge and an estimated wide band gap of size ~3.38 eV. In addition to Cr³⁺ transitions manifesting in the visible region, two well-resolved ultra-violet transitions characteristic for Cr⁶⁺ were unambiguously identified down to ~339 nm. These transitions and other relevant quantities, such as crystal field strength and Racah parameters, were accurately determined from a deconvolution process applied to all optical spectra. The present Gd₂O₃-doped glasses offer wide band gap materials with high energy optical transitions suitable for UV optics, such as ultraviolet digital photography and insect light traps.

掺铬硼酸盐玻璃因其在可见光谱和紫外光谱范围内具有独特的光学跃迁而吸引了潜在的光学应用。但是，由于硼酸盐玻璃靠近整体吸收边缘，因此通常会在硼酸盐玻璃中屏蔽这种强烈的紫外线过渡。在这里，我们利用宽带隙Gd ₂ O ₃掺杂剂的可变浓度来分离这些近边缘的光学跃迁。通过X射线衍射证实了所有的Gd ₂ O ₃掺杂的硼酸盐玻璃样品都具有固定的Cr含量，其非晶态性质。Gd ₂ O ₃从增加的实验密度和计算出的平均硼-硼分离度推断出，发现添加剂可增强玻璃状网络的致密性。红外光谱分析显示了结构单元的基本振动模式，非桥氧和四面体配位的硼原子比的比例。这些比率以及从BO ₃到BO ₄的明显转化表明具有增加的带隙能的开放玻璃结构。后者通过记录所有样品的光学吸收光谱得到确认，这些光谱显示出吸收边缘明显的蓝移和估计的〜3.38 eV的宽带隙。除了Cr ³⁺在可见光区出现的过渡态，明确地鉴定了低至〜339 nm的两个Cr ⁶⁺特征良好的紫外线过渡。这些转变和其他相关量（例如晶体场强度和Racah参数）是通过应用于所有光谱的反卷积过程精确确定的。本发明的掺杂Gd ₂ O _3的玻璃提供了具有高能光学跃迁的宽带隙材料，该跃迁适合于紫外光学器件，例如紫外数字摄影和昆虫诱捕器。