Luminescence dynamics in Eu3+ doped fluoroborate glasses

Abstract

Rare earth ions doped transparent glasses are among promising solid-state materials for various optical applications. In this report, Eu3+ ions doped new fluoroborate glasses were prepared by conventional melt-quenching technique and their optical properties were characterized by absorption and luminescence spectroscopy as well as excited state lifetime measurements. The absorption spectra revealed the characteristic transitions between the 7F0 ground state and 7F1 first excited state to the upper-lying electronic states. The variation in the luminescence intensity of the radiative transitions occurring at 590 and 611nm and the bi-exponential behavior of the fluorescence decay of the 5D0 level, with different trend for the amplitude of the decays, are discussed in terms of low and high symmetry sites depending on the EuF3 concentration and the possible energy transfer between ions at these sites.