Influence of ${\hbox {Bi}}_{2} {\hbox {O}}_{3}$, ${\hbox {Sb}}_{2} \hbox {O}_{3}$ and ${\hbox {Y}}_{2} {\hbox {O}}_{3}$ on optical properties of ${\hbox {Er}}_{2} {\hbox {O}}_{3}$-doped $\hbox {CaO}$–${\hbox {P}}_{2} {\hbox {O}}_{5}$–${\hbox {B}}_{2} {\hbox {O}}_{3}$ glasses

Abstract

The glasses of the composition $25\hbox {CaO}$–$10({\hbox {M}}_{2} {\hbox {O}}_{3})$–$14{\hbox {P}}_{2} {\hbox {O}}_{5}$–$50{\hbox {B}}_{2} {\hbox {O}}_{3}{:} \! 1{\hbox {Er}}_{2} {\hbox {O}}_{3}$ (where M = Bi/Sb/Y) are prepared. The prepared samples are characterized by XRD, thermoluminescence (TL), UV and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. TL reports suggest that the sample of 10 mol% ${\hbox {Y}}_{2} {\hbox {O}}_{3}$ concentration ($\hbox {E}_{\mathrm{Y}}$) exhibiting good shape symmetry factor (${{u}} = 0.484$) and low AEs ($E_{\tau } = 1.189$, $E_\delta = 1.218$ and $E_{\omega } = 1.210$) under $\gamma$-irradiation might be a good TL asset. The optical absorptions of present glasses are studied well through the Judd–Ofelt theory. The evaluations such as Judd–Ofelt parameters are additionally projected. They are found to be the best (${\Omega }_{2} = 1.62 \times 10^{-21} \, {\hbox {cm}}^{2}$, ${\Omega }_{4} = 1.56 \times 10^{-21} \, {\hbox {cm}}^{2}$ and ${\Omega }_{6} = 0.59 \times 10^{-21} \, {\hbox {cm}}^{2}$) for the sample of 10 mol% ${\hbox {Y}}_{2} {\hbox {O}}_{3}$ concentration ($\hbox {E}_{\mathrm{Y}}$), which may be a good optical asset to develop a novel class of laser resources. The radiative evolutions corresponding to the emissive transition ${}^{4}{\hbox {S}}_{3/2} \rightarrow {}^{4} {\hbox {I}}_{15/2}$ are assessed by PL technique. The evaluations are found to be the best ($A_{\mathrm{t}} = 7089 \, {\hbox {s}}^{-1}$, $\tau _{\mathrm{rad}} = 140 \, \upmu \hbox {s}$ and $\beta = 96.1\%$) for the sample of 10 mol% ${\hbox {Y}}_{2} {\hbox {O}}_{3}$ concentration ($\hbox {E}_{\mathrm{Y}}$), which may be a useful luminescent resource.