Eu3+-doped gadolinium borate glass system development for optical and scintillation applications

Abstract

This paper describes the development and characterization of the Eu3+-doped Ba-Na-B glass system with the varying of Gd2O3 concentrations from 0 to 10 mol%. The photoluminescence emission spectra, excited with 393 nm at Eu3+ ions, show strong luminescence with a peak emission wavelength of 613 nm (5D0→7F2). The highest emission intensity is belonged to the glass sample with 2.5 mol% of Gd2O3. The phonon energy of the host glasses, evaluated from the phonon sideband analysis, is 1017 cm−1. The emission spectra, excited with 275 nm at Gd3+ ions, show the emission band according to the Gd3+→Gd3+ transition at 311 nm (4P7/2→8S7/2) and show the Gd3+→Eu3+ energy transfer, resulting in the emission of light at the characteristic wavelengths of the Eu3+. The highest photoluminescence emission intensity is belonged to the glass sample with 2.5 mol% of Gd2O3, due to its highest energy transfer efficiency at 59.10%. The emitting light of all the glass samples for both excited with 393 nm (Eu3+) and 275 nm (Gd3+) can be all represented by the x,y color coordinates at (0.65, 0.35) in reddish-orange region. The radioluminescence emission spectra, excited by 50 kV, 30 mA X-ray generator, show the emission bands with Eu3+ characteristics. The highest radioluminescence emission intensity is belonged to the glass sample with 7.5 mol% of Gd2O3 with the highest scintillation efficiencies at 20.61% compared to the BGO sample.