Optical Properties of Eu3+-Doped Lithium Tellurite Glass

Abstract

Improving the optical response of tellurite glasses via controlled doping of rare earth is the key issue in lasing materials. A series of glasses of the form (74.4-x)TeO2(4.3)Li2O(21.3)LiCl (x)Eu2O3 with 0.0 x 2.0 mol% are synthesized using melt-quenching technique and the influence of Eu2O3 content on their UV-Vis absorption properties are examined. The absorption spectra reveal two prominent peaks centered at 464 and 533 nm corresponding to 7F05D2 and 7F15D1 transitions, respectively. The optical band gap energy for direct and indirect transitions are found to be in the range of 3.294-3.173 eV and 3.067-2.971 eV, respectively. The decrease optical band gap energy with the increase of Eu2O3 contents is attributed to the generation of non-bridging oxygen (NBOs). The increase in Urbach energy from 0.226-0.308 eV with the increase of Eu2O3 contents signifies the variation in disorder and compactness of the glass network.