Effects of Copper Metallic Nanoparticles on Structural and Optical Properties of Antimony Phosphate Glasses Co-Doped with Samarium Ions

New antimony phosphate glasses doped with samarium (III) oxide and co-doped with copper metallic nanoparticles (CuNPs) were obtained by the melt quenching technique. The samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), ultraviolet-visible (UV–Vis) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies. XRD data suggested that all the obtained samples showed an amorphous nature. EPR data suggested the existence of Cu2+ ions octahedrally surrounded by six oxygen atoms. The dipole–dipole interactions between Cu2+ ions were predominant. UV–Vis spectra revealed the presence of Sm3+ and Cu2+ ions in the samples. The values for nephelauxetic and bonding parameters were also calculated. The negative values obtained for bonding parameter indicate an ionic character of the bonds from the glass network. Photoluminescence spectra exhibited emissions from samarium ions and revealed the influence of dopant nature on of rare-earth ions emissions. The obtained results indicate that the studied materials are suitable for solid state lasers.

Structural and Thermal Characterization of Antimony-Phosphate Glass

A new ternary glass systems of composition xSb2O3-(75-x) P2O5-25MgO, where x = 30, 40, 50 mol%; has been prepared via melt-quenching method. Synthesized glasses are characterized using XRD, FESEM, EDX, and TG/DTA measurements. The influence of varying Sb2O3 concentrations on their thermal properties and crystal structure is evaluated. The XRD patterns confirmed the amorphous nature of samples. SEM images demonstrated interesting phase formation with ribbons-like texture. Three crystalline phases were observed in this glass series which are antimony phosphate, antimony orthophosphate and cervantite. EDX spectra detected the approximate percentage of the raw elemental traces. Thermal analysis of these glasses revealed their high-molecular polymer character for Sb2O3 content at 50 mol%. Three different glass transition temperatures are achieved with three different composition each, which are (276, 381, 422 °C) at x=30 mol%, (276, 381, 470 °C) at x=40 mol% and (276, 381, 443 °C) at x=50 mol%. Furthermore, the solidus and liquidus temperature are found to decrease with increasing Sb2O3. This observation may open up new research avenues for antimony based ternary glasses.

Excitability of high-energy ultraviolet radiation for Dy3+ in antimony phosphate glasses

Dy3+ doped antimony phosphate (ZASP) glasses are synthesized and the specificity of the luminescence behavior is demonstrated. Different from the conventional long-wave ultraviolet (UVA) exciting cases, the excitable area of Dy3+ doped ZASP glasses is extended to high-energy ultraviolet radiation including medium-wave ultraviolet (UVB) and short-wave ultraviolet (UVC) spectral regions. The quantum efficiency for 4F9/2 level of Dy3+ in low- and medium-concentration Dy2O3 doping cases reaches 95.0 % and 66.7 %, respectively, confirming the emission effectiveness from Dy3+ in ZASP glasses. The values of energy-transfer probability (P) have obvious difference while using 340 nm and 540 nm as monitoring wavelengths, so asthe energy-transfer efficiencies (η), which are related to the energy-transfer processes from discrepant Sb3+ donors to Dy3+ acceptors, were in-equivalent. The effective excitability of high-energy ultraviolet radiation illustrates that Dy3+ doped ZASP glasses are a promising candidate in developing visible light sources, display devices and tunable visible lasers.