Luminescence features of Ho3+ , Er3+ and Tm3+ ions in red lead added non-conventional antimony oxide glass system

Abstract

In this study, a glass system based on heavy metal oxides, namely Pb₃ O₄ -Sb₂ O₃ -SiO₂ , was prepared with Ho₂ O₃ , Er₂ O₃ , and Tm₂ O₃ as dopants. The prepared glass were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared (IR) studies. The luminescence efficiencies of the three rare earth ions viz., Ho³⁺ , Er³⁺ , and Tm³⁺ in the glass system were investigated, specifically focusing on green (Ho³⁺ , Er³⁺ ), blue (Tm³⁺ ), and near-infrared (NIR) emissions. The optical absorption (OA) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra of RE mixed glass displayed strong bands in the visible and NIR regions, which were analyzed using the Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory. The J-O coefficients (Ω_λ ) were found to be in the order of Ω₂ > Ω₄ > Ω₆ for all the three glass. Notably, the Tm³⁺ -doped glass exhibited the lowest Ω₂ value, which was attributed to a larger degree of disorder in the glass network due to lower fractions of Sb⁵⁺ and Pb⁴⁺ ions that take part in the glass network forming. This conclusion was arrived based on the IR studies. Furthermore, the quantitative analysis of PL spectra and decay curves indicated that SbHo and SbEr glass were suitable for efficient green emission, while SbTm glass is a promising choice for blue laser emission.

Keywords: Ho3+, Er3+ and Tm3+ ions; Sb2O3; green, blue and NIR emissions; red lead.