Synthesis and characterizations of Rare earth doped tellurite glasses for Photonic and radiation shielding Applications

Abstract

Glasses with disordered structure find applications in wide fields including newlinephotonics, optoelectronics,optical amplifiers, sensors, smart windows, memory storage newlinesystems etc. Owing to their transparency, these act as good lasing materials whose newlineefficiency depends on the type of glass and the doping. Different types of glasses newlinewhich include silicates, borates, chalcogenides, tellurites etc., have been utilized in newlinedifferent wavelength regions, depending on their range of transmission. The lasing newlineability of a material depend on the rare earth dopant ions, which possess varied energy newlinelevels. Transitions between these levels leads to emission at different wavelengths, that newlinedepends on the input energy and the type of ion. This emission needs to be supported newlineby suitable glass matrix that will allow the emission and not inhibit the output. Visible, newlinenear and mid-IR regions have specific importance leading to applications as white light newlinesources, communication source, defence etc. Tellurium oxide (Tellurite) glasses have a newlinelower phonon energy, larger transmission window and lower transition temperatures newlinewhich allow them to be used as suitable materials for supporting near and mid-IR newlineemission. Rare earth ion concentration can also be increased in tellurites by modifying newlinesuitable network formers and network modifiers. Significant issue in utilizing these newlineglasses lie in reducing/removing hydroxyl impurities in the matrix, which affect the newlinetransmission from the ions. Utilization of halides helps in reducing these impurities, newlinewhich also reduced the thermal stability affecting practical applications as optical fibers. newlineThere is a need to identify glasses of suitable composition for this. Initial study newlinewas confined to fluoride-based barium tellurites and was extrapolated to oxide-based newlinebarium tellurite with rare earth ion doping. Compositions were varied as TeO2 newlineZnF2and#1048576;BaF2 (TZfBf ), and TeO2and#1048576;ZnOand#1048576;BaCO3and#1048576;BaF2and#1048576;RE (TZBBRE), doped with newlineTm2O3=Er2O3=Ho2O3, with concentrations changing as (80 and#1048576; x)TeO2 and#1048576; 10ZnF2 and#1048576; newlinexBaF2[10 _ x _ 30 mo