Synthesis and characterizations of lead barium borate (LBB) glasses reinforced with Er3+ ions for optoelectronic applications

Lead barium borate (LBB) glasses reinforced with Er2O3 were fabricated by the melt-quenching technique. The general formula of the chemical compositions was 58B(2)O(3) - 27BaO - 5Na(2)O - (10-X)PbO - XEr2O3: 0 (BBPEr-0.0) <= X <= 1 (BBPEr-1.0) mol%. Physical, XRD, FTIR, and optical characteristics of BBPEr-X samples were investigated. The density (D-s) slightly improved from 4.95 g/cm(3) to 5.33 g/cm(3), whereas the molar volume (V-m) declined from 25.40 cm(3)/mol to 24.58 cm(3)/mol. The FTIR spectra exhibited that there is no change in the structural BO3 and BO4 units in the glass matrix. The UV absorption spectra depicted that the transitions from the ground state (I-4(15/2)) to the excited states of Er3+ ions takes place. The indirect optical band gap (E-g) declined as the concentration of Er2O3 increased, shifting from 2.83 eV to 2.76 eV. The Urbach energy E-U values were changed from 0.21 eV to 0.30 eV. As the substitution ratio of Er3+ ions increased, refractive index (n), optical real (epsilon') and imaginary (epsilon'') portions), surface (SELF) and volume (VELF) energy losses were improved. Results confirmed that the suggested glasses BBPEr-X are promising materials for optoelectronic applications.