Effect of Eu3+ ions concentration on visible red luminescence and radiative shielding properties of SrO–Al2O3– BaCl2–B2O3– TeO2 glasses

Abstract

Trivalent europium (Eu3+) ions doped 10SrO-(10-x)Al2O3–10BaCl2–60B2O3–10TeO2 glasses were fabricated by the melt-and-quenching technique and characterized for excitation, absorption, emission, decay methods to analyze the suitability of the glasses for photonic device applications. In addition, gamma attenuation data of the prepared glasses were Obtained for energies 15 keV ≤ E ≤ 10 MeV using FLUKA and XCOM methods to check their suitability for radiative shielding purposes. Direct allowed, indirect allowed band gaps and Urbach energies were estimated from absorption spectra. Emission spectra obtained for an excitation wavelength of 362 nm have been used to estimate J-O intensity parameters Ωλ (where λ = 2, 4). The intensity parameters Ω2 and Ω4 were again used to evaluate various radiative properties for the emission transition 5D0→7F2 of Eu3+ ions doped OCBT glasses. Decay curves were well fitted by single exponential and in turn used to estimate experimental lifetime (τexp) of metastable state (5D0) of Eu3+ions. The analysis on radiative properties showed that 2.5 mol % of Eu3+ ions activated OCBT glasses for the emission transition 5D0→7F2 is well suitable for visible red lasers and display applications. Analysis of evaluated interaction parameters for gamma radiation fast and thermal neutrons showed clear cut dependence on the Eu2O3 content of the glasses. In addition, the radiation absorption ability of the glasses was compared with different classes of concrete, commercial glass shields, and nonconventional shielding materials. The present glasses showed great potential for deployment in radiation absorption roles in nuclear technologies.