Influence of rare-earth impurities on the Ge and Ga local structure in the Ca3Ga2Ge3O12 glass

Abstract

The present contribution presents X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements and analysis of the Ge and Ga local structure in glass of Ca3Ga2Ge3O12 composition, doped with rare-earth metals (Ce, Eu, Ho, Er in the amount of 0.7wt% and Nd in the amount of 1.0wt%). The Ge and Ga ion neighborhoods in the considered glass samples have been compared with data obtained for undoped glass. The results have shown that introduction of rare-earth ions modifies the local structure around the Ga ions in the glass network, leaving the same occurrence ratio of the GaO4 and GaO6 structural units as in undoped Ca3Ga2Ge3O12 glass. At the same time, the GeO2 subsystem remains completely unaffected by the presence of rare-earth dopants.