Luminescence and energy transfer of Tb3+-doped BaO-Gd2O3-Al2O3-B2O3-SiO2 glasses

Transparent Tb3+-doped BaO-Gd2O3-Al2O3-B2O3-SiO2 glasses with the greater than 4 g/cm(3) were prepared by high temperature melting method and its luminescent properties have been investigated by measured UV-vis transmission, excitation, emission and luminescence decay spectra. The transmission spectrum shows there are three weak absorption bands locate at about 312, 378 and 484 nm in the glasses and it has good transmittance in the visible spectrum region. Intense green emission can be observed under UV excitation. The effective energy transfer from Gd3+ ion to Tb3+ ion could occur and sensitize the luminescence of Tb3+ ion. The green emission intensity of Tb3+ ion could change with the increasing SiO2/B2O3 ratio in the borosilicate glass matrix. With the increasing concentration of Tb3+ ion, D-5(4) -> F-7(J) transitions could be enhanced through the cross relaxation between the two nearby Tb3+ ions. Luminescence decay time of 2.12 ms from 546 nm emission is obtained. The results indicate that Tb3+-doped BaO-Gd2O3-Al2O3-B2O3-SiO2 glasses would be potential scintillating material for applications in X-ray imaging. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.