Influence of (Er3+, La3+, Ce4+) additions on physical and optical properties of 50CaO–50P2O5 glasses

Abstract

Calcium phosphate glass samples with the addition of 5 mol% of three different rare earth oxides (Erbium, Lanthanum and Cerium oxides) were made by melt quenching process. Effect of rare earth ions addition on structural, physical and optical properties has been investigated using density measurement, XRD diffraction, Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultra violet visible spectroscopy and Abbe Refractometer. The random short range order of synthesized glass samples was analyzed by XRD diffraction. The absorption spectra have been recorded and optical band gap energy was determined by using Tauc plotting. The band gap energy showed a decrease when 5 mol% of rare earth (Er2O3, La2O3, and CeO2) oxides were added to the host glass. Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectrometer was applied to study the structural changes of the synthesized glasses. The density and refractive index of synthesized glasses was measured and related parameters were calculated. These values are compared with the un-doped metaphosphate glass. Based on measured density, the concentrations of added rare-earth ion is calculated. With an increase in ion concentration, the internuclear distance decreased leading to an increase in field strength.