Synthesis and Characterization of Eu<sup>3+</sup>-Doped Transparent Glass-Ceramics Containing Nanocrystalline AlNbO<sub>4</sub>

Abstract

The transparent glass-ceramics containing nanocrystalline AlNbO4 phase in the 25Al2O3-27Nb2O5-40SiO2-7Na2O-2Eu2O3(wt%) glass were prepared by the melt-quench technique followed by a two-stage controlled heat treatment. Crystalline phase were indentified using X-ray diffraction (XRD) which AlNbO4 phase was found. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to image the crystalline phase morphologies. The luminescence spectra of Eu3+-doped glass and glass-ceramics were recorded at 393 nm exciation wavelength and the luminescence intensity is found to be increase with heat-treatment time due to increase in crystallinity. The high intensity ratio of 5D0-7F2 to 5D0-7F1 indicates that the Eu3+-doped nanocrystalline AlNbO4 glass-ceramics are promising candidate materials as red-light source.