Crystallization kinetics of AlF3-based glasses doped with rare earth ions

Different concentrations of NdF3, PrF3(,) and PrF3, codoped with YbF3, ranging from 0.25 to 2.0 wt%, have been added to an AlF3-base glass with composition (mol%) 30.2AlF(3)- 10.6BaF(2)-20.2CaF(2)-8.3YF(3)-3.5MgF(2)-3.8NaF-13.2SrF(2)-10.2ZrF(4). The Avrami exponent, n, and activation energy, E, for the base glass, as well as the doped glasses, have been calculated by analyzing the differential scanning calorimetry curves, according to the amended Ozawa-Chen and Augis and Benett equations. In light of these results, we observe that the introduction of suitable amounts of rare-earth ions improved the thermal stability of the base glass.