Review-Recent Advances in Bismuth Tellurite Glasses for Photonic and Radiation Shielding Applications

The inherent properties of Heavy metal oxide glasses have led to their widespread applications in various domains including lasers, optical fibers, optoelectronics, radiation shielding materials etc. Tellurium oxide and bismuth oxides are conditional glass forming heavy metal oxides, which when combined suitably yield significant improvement in the whole system. Lower phonon energy of tellurite helps in aiding broader transmission and lasing properties, while the ability of bismuth ions to reside in various valence states aids in incorporation of optically active rare earth ions in these glasses. Near Infrared emission characteristic of bismuth ions could be improved by co-doping with rare earth ions to improve the emission and consequently their applications as photonic devices. Higher density of these oxides helps in increasing the radiation shielding ability, thereby making them suitable replacement materials for lead based toxic compounds. This article is an attempt to review the recent reports within the last decade on glasses based on bismuth tellurites for lasing and radiation shielding applications.