Fabricated Glass Samples Research Articles

A new protective glass material against gamma ray: Thorough analysis to determine the impact of adding gadolinium (III) oxide

This work presents a study of the effect of replacing lead dioxide and gadolinium (III) oxide with boron trioxide on the physical, mechanical, and radiation shielding properties for the B2O3-Na2O-ZnO-PbO2-Gd2O3 glass systems. The Archimedes method confirms that the increase in the PbO2+Gd2O3 concentration within the fabricated glass system in the range from 16 to 22 mol.% increases the fabricated glass samples' density from 4.052 to 4.408 g/cm3. Additionally, the Makishima-Mackenzie model was utilized to investigate the influence of PbO2+Gd2O3 on the mechanical properties of the investigated glass samples. The increase in the substituting of PbO2+Gd2O3 decreases the fabricated glass samples' mechanical properties and micro-hardness. Furthermore, the Monte Carlo simulation method was applied for the estimation of the impact of PbO2+Gd2O3 concentration on the fabricated samples' radiation shielding parameters. The increase in the concentration of PbO2+Gd2O3 with range of (16, 18, 20 and 22) leads to increase the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) to 8.014–11.517 cm−1 at 0.06 MeV, 0.381–0.423 cm−1 at 0.6 MeV, 0.133–0.149 cm−1 at 5 MeV, and 0.132–0.154 cm−1 at 15 MeV with the same order, respectively. Therefore, the introduction of PbO2+Gd2O3 concentration enhances the fabricated glass samples' radiation shielding properties to be suitable for γ-ray shielding applications.

Physical and radiation shielding properties for borate, boro-tellurite, and tellurite glass system modified with different modifiers: Comparative study

Two newly synthesized glass series, 10Bi2O3-20BaO-(70-x)B2O3-xTeO2, and 10MoO3-20SrO-(70-x)B2O3-xTeO2, where x = 0, 35, and 70 mol%, were fabricated using the melt-quenching technique. The fabricated glass samples' physical properties and radiation shielding capabilities were examined. The insertion of TeO2 into the glass composition increased the density values, with the glass samples labeled BBB-T70 (6.53 g/cm3) and SBM-T70 (5.66 g/cm3) exhibiting the highest density due to the increased concentration of TeO2. The addition of TeO2 led to loosely bonded glasses, indicating lower glass stability. Using SRIM and Phy-X/PSD software, the radiation shielding capabilities of the produced samples were investigated for various radiation types, including alpha particles, protons, neutrons, and gamma rays. The increase in TeO2 content and the reduction in B2O3 revealed significant increases in the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) values and improved gamma shielding properties. For example, the LAC values at 0.283 MeV are 0.283, 0.367, 0.667, 0.902, 1.095, 1.313, and 1.55315 cm−1 for SBM-T00, SBM-T35, SBM-T70, BBB-T00, BBB-T53, and BBB-T70, respectively. However, the SBM-T00 sample exhibited lower charged particle shielding properties. The SBT-T35 and BBB-T00 samples showed the highest ability to stop fast neutrons. In conclusion, the glass samples synthesized in this work are highly recommended for shielding against various ionizing radiation sources.

Research on energy transfer mechanism and ∼1 μm broadband luminescence properties in Nd3+/Yb3+ co-doped Bi2O3–B2O3–BaF2 glass

Through the traditional molten method, we designed and fabricated Nd3+/Yb3+ co-doped bismuth borate glasses, and completed the study of the luminescence mechanism of rare earth ions in 1 μm band as well as the doping concentration on the luminescence performance of the glass. Firstly, the thermodynamic properties of the glass sample was evaluated by utilizing DSC curve. Subsequently, the spectral properties of BBFNY-2 glass sample was revealed by analyzing the absorption spectra, fluorescence spectra, fluorescence lifetimes and Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory. Finally, the energy transfer mechanism between rare earth ions Nd3+→Yb3+ was analyzed in detail. The increase of fluorescence intensity at 1008 nm in the glass was calculated corresponding to the broadening of Δλeff from 103 nm to 107 nm, and the obtainable OCT (optical coherence tomography) axial resolution increased from 4.4 μm to 4.1 μm. In this work, the small absorption cross section of Yb3+ at 980 nm in 55Bi2O3–35B2O3–10BaF2 (mol%) glass is effectively solved by Nd3+→Yb3+ energy transfer. Meanwhile, the relevant parameters of the prepared BBFNY-2 glass sample were calculated, and the results suggested that the fabricated glass samples have large microscopic parameters, high transfer efficiency and long fluorescence lifetime. In the results, it was revealed that the via non-radiative electric dipole-dipole process was responsible for the energy transfer and was proportional to the concentration of the Nd3+ donor ions. With all the results, the prepared BBFNY-2 glass sample is a high-potential candidate material for ∼1 μm laser applications.

Fabrication and investigation of the effects of various gadolinium compounds on Ce3+-activated phosphate glasses for scintillation applications

Ce3+-activated phosphate-based glasses were fabricated for scintillation purposes following melt-quenching technique. Chemical compositions of the glasses were designed in mol. % ratio with formula (62P2O5:20Li2CO3:10X:5Al2O3:3CeBr3 where XGd2O3/GdF3/GdCl3/GdBr3/GdI3). The amorphous structure of the glasses was verified by the powder X-ray diffraction measurements. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) measurements were carried out to study the structural properties of the fabricated glass samples. X-ray-induced luminescence and photoluminescence (PL) spectra were used to investigate the luminescence properties of the glasses. A broad PL excitation band was found for all prepared glasses that refers to Gd3+ and Ce3+ characteristic transitions. GdI3 containing glass sample provided the optimum emission under X-ray and UV (308 nm) excitations peaking at 347 and 341 nm, respectively. The scintillation property of the GdI3 containing glass was studied under 5.5 MeV α-particle from 241Am radiation source and a clear alpha peak was observed with energy resolution of 35.3%. The shortest decay component of the glass sample was observed to be 27.9 ns, 30.7 ns and 29.12 ns under the α-particles, γ-ray, and 266 nm pulsed laser excitations, respectively. In conclusion, the GdI3 prepared glass sample can be used for α -particles detection.

Impact of Modifier Oxides on Mechanical and Radiation Shielding Properties of B2O3-SrO-TeO2-RO Glasses (Where RO = TiO2, ZnO, BaO, and PbO)

The influence of modifier oxides (TiO2, ZnO, BaO, and PbO) on the mechanical and radiation shielding properties of boro-tellurate glasses is investigated. Samples with a composition of B2O3-SrO-TeO2-RO (RO represents the modifier oxides) were fabricated using the melt quench method, and their physical, mechanical, and radiation attenuation parameters were reported. For this aim, Monte Carlo simulation was employed to predict the radiation attenuation parameters, while the Makishima-Mackenzie model was adopted to determine the mechanical properties. The tightly packed structure with better cross-linkage density is possessed by the Ti-containing glass (SBT-Ti) system among the titled glass batch. The higher Poisson and micro-hardness values of the SBT-Ti glass indicate its structure’s reduced free volume and better compactness. For the glass with PbO, the linear and mass attenuation coefficients are highly increased compared to those glasses doped with TiO2, ZnO, and BaO. The thinner half-value layer was reported at 0.015 MeV, taking values 0.006, 0.005, 0.004, and 0.002 for samples with TiO2, ZnO, BaO, and PbO, respectively. SBT-Pb sample (with PbO) has a thinner HVL compared to other fabricated glass samples. The fabricated glasses’ thickness (Deq) equivalent to 1 cm of lead (Pb) was reported. The results demonstrated that Deq is high at low energy and equals 11.62, 8.81, 7.61, 4.56 cm for SBT-Ti, SBT-Zn, SBT-Ba, and SBT-Pb glass samples, respectively. According to the Deq results, the fabricated glasses have a shielding capacity between 30 and 43% compared to the pure Pb at gamma-ray energy of 1.5 MeV. At high energy (8 MeV), the transmission factor values for a thickness of 1 cm of the fabricated samples reach 88.68, 87.83, 85.95, and 83.11% for glasses SBT-Ti, SBT-Zn, SBT-Ba, and SBT-Pb, respectively.

Temperature dependent electrical transport behavior of (100-x)Bi2O3-x(BaTiO3) glass system

Impedance measurements were performed as a function of temperature (RT to 700 K) in the frequency range (1 Hz-1MHz) on fabricated Bismuth Barium Titanate glass samples. Dielectric permittivity is found to be increased on increasing both the temperature and BaTiO3 (BT) content in highly polarizable glass matrix of Bi2O3. Experimental data obtained for imaginary part of electric modulus (M″)has been fitted theoretically using non-exponential Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts (KWW) function, however Jonscher's universal power law has been employed to analyze the frequency dependent ac conductivity. The calculated activation energy values for both the samples have been found to be in close agreement with each other and qualify for doubly ionized oxygen vacancies, proposing that the similar kind of charge carriers are involved in the relaxation and conduction mechanisms. Stretched exponent (β) of Modulus and power exponent (n) of ac conductivity, estimated from theoretical fitting of experimental data, have been found to be dependent on temperature and BT (BaTiO3) content. On increasing temperature, an increase in values of (n) suggests that non-overlapping small polaron tunneling (NSPT) model can be easily applied to explain ac conduction and hopping transport mechanisms of the fabricated glass samples.

Developed barium fluoride-based borate glass: Ag2O impacts on optical and gamma-ray attenuation properties

A quaternary glass system was fabricated via the melting quenching method. The mentioned glass system consists of five samples described by the chemical composition 50B2O3 + 30BaF2 + (20-x)Li2O + xAg2O, 0.0 < x < 6 mol%. Archimedes method illustrates that the glasses density increased from 3.2681 g/cm3 to 3.4851 g/cm3. The optical properties of the fabricated glass samples were also estimated from the absorbance recorded by the JASCO UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer. The direct energy gap decreased from 3.16 to 2.92 eV. Simultaneously, the refractive index increased from 3.65 to 4.88 with increasing the AgO2 doping ratio. Moreover, the shielding parameters showed a significant enhancement with increasing the Ag2O insertion ratio, where the linear attenuation coefficient enhanced from 112.69 to 124.012 cm−1 at g 0.015 MeV. The transmission factor (TF, %) was enhanced by increasing the Ag2O concentrations in the glass network as well as growing the glass thickness.

Tailor made barium borate doped Bi2O3 glass system for radiological protection

The study presents a ternary glass series fabricated as a mixture of 60B2O3-(40-x)BaO-xBi2O3, x = 0, 2.5, and 5 wt%. The glass density was measured using the Archimedes method with Xylene as an immerse liquid. The fabricated glass samples' mechanical features and elastic moduli were evaluated utilizing the Makishima-Makenzie (M-M) model based on the fabricated glass chemical composition and density. The elastic moduli were varied in the range between 92.862 and 99.734, 71.142–81.750, 36.208–38.457, and 119.420–133.027 Gpa for Young, bulk, shear, and longitudinal moduli. Other mechanical properties like Poisson ratio, microhardness, fractal bond conductivity, and softening temperature were predicted based on the fabricated glass samples' elastic moduli. Moreover, experimental measurements were applied to evaluate the linear attenuation coefficient at energies 662, 1173, and 1332 keV. The experimental measurements were confirmed with the theoretical XCOM program. Monte Carlo N- particle transport code version 5, XCOM, and BXCOM programs were used to evaluate the fabricated glass samples' radiation shielding properties.

A comprehensive investigation on the role of PbO in the structural and radiation shielding attribute of P2O5–CaO–Na2O–K2O–PbO glass system

This study presents the synthesis, physical, structural and gamma-ray shielding characteristics of 40P2O5–20CaO–(30−x)Na2O−10K2O–xPbO (x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 mol%) glasses. The glass samples coded as PbCKNP1, PbCKNP2, PbCKNP3, PbCKNP4, and PbCKNP5 were prepared using the melt quench method. Na2O substitution by PbO influenced the molar volume and mass density of the glasses. Structural analysis of the glasses using the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed amorphous structure. The photon shielding parameters of the glasses examined via the Monte Carlo simulation code (MCNP-5) revealed that the glasses' shielding ability improved as PbO content increased. The highest simulated linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) achieved at 0.015 MeV increased from 21.46 to 159.07 cm−1 as the PbO concentration increased from 0 and 20 mol%. The LAC for all fabricated glass samples showed an exponential reduction trend with gamma photon energy. Based on the simulated LAC values, calculated mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), half-value layer (HVL), transmission factor (TF), and radiation shielding capacity (RSC), PbCKNP5 possessed the best gamma-ray protection ability among the investigated glasses. Furthermore, the calculated shielding parameters of the PbCKNP glasses showed that they possess a good potential for radiation shielding applications.

Repercussions of yttrium oxides on radiation shielding capacity of sodium-silicate glass system: experimental and Monte Carlo simulation study

Five glass samples with composition 37.5 Na2O + (61.1 − x) SiO2 + xY2O3, x = 1, 2, 5, 5.7 and 6 mol% were synthesized using the melting methods at temperatures varying between 1400 and 1500 °C, depending on the Y2O3 insertion ratio. The synthesized glasses density was measured using the Archimedes method. Moreover, the linear attenuation coefficient was measured experimentally using the gamma-ray transmission method with NaI (Tl) crystal and radio-isotopes C-137 and Co-60. The mass attenuation coefficient was calculated based on the experimental linear attenuation coefficient and confirmed using the Monte Carlo simulation MCNP-5 code and XCOM program. The gamma-ray shielding capacity was enhanced with the replacement of SiO2 by Y2O3. The LAC at energy 0.662 MeV varied in the range between 0.201 and 0.232 cm−1, increasing the Y2O3 insertion ratio between 1 and 6 mol%, respectively. The fast neutron effective removal cross section ∑R (cm2/g) was also evaluated theoretically for the fabricated glass samples. The computed ∑R values decreased linearly with the Y2O3 content.

Optical and radiation shielding features for a new series of borate glass samples

A series of borate glass (80-y)B2O3-10ZnO-10CdO-yBaO, where 10 ≤ y ≤ 30, was synthesized by the melt quench method. The durability and optical features were explored to study the structural features. The sample S2 appears the highest durability than other samples. Several optical parameters were determined, such as bandgap, refractive index, reflection loss, metallization, and cutoff wavelength; these parameters show a good relationship with durability. Moreover, comprehensive radiation shielding properties, including gamma, neutron, and proton, were computed theoretically. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC)theoretical was defined by using the XCOM program, the (MAC)theoretical was compared with MCNP values, and the acquired results show excellent compatibility. The sample S5 gives the best sheilding properties for gamma and proton radiations. While, S1 sample provides the highest neutron shielding features. Finally, it can be concluded that the fabricated glass samples can be used as a shielding substance for proton, neutron, and gamma-ray.

Structural, optical, and gamma-ray shielding properties of a newly fabricated P2O5–B2O3–Bi2O3–Li2O–ZrO2 glass system

A new glass network consists of (40–x)P2O5 + 30B2O3 + 20Bi2O3 + 10Li2O + xZrO2 where x is ranged between 0 and 5 mol% and was fabricated using a quenching method at temperature ranged between 1050° and 1380 °C. It has been observed that there is an increase in the ZrO2 substitution ratio with the glass melting temperature increased gradually. Moreover, by using the XRD spectrometer, it was verified the amorphous state of the glass samples. The absorbance and refractive index were measured experimentally using the UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer. Other essential optical parameters such as energy gap, Urbach energy, extinction coefficient, electrical polarizability, molar fraction, and dielectric constants were calculated based on the refractive index's experimental results. Moreover, the fabricated glass samples' ability to stand against the gamma energy and fast neutron were examined using simulation code MCNP-5 and the theoretical calculation by the latest Electron Photon Interaction Cross Section 2017 photoatomic library. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) exhibits a good performance when replacing the P2O5 by ZrO2 contents. The LAC at gamma-ray energy (0.015 MeV) was enhanced from 207.112 to 274.831 cm−1, increasing the ZrO2 replacing ratio between 0 and 5 mol %, respectively. The mass attenuation coefficients (µm) were found to have higher values for the library interpolation as compared to MCNP-5 simulations. The prepared glasses' ability to absorb the incoming fast neutron was diminished from 0.0251 to 0.0245 cm2 g−1, increasing the ZrO2 substitution ratio between 0 and 5 mol %, respectively.

Development of a novel MoO3-doped borate glass network for gamma-ray shielding applications

Five glass samples with the composition of 20CdO–10SrO–(70 − x) B2O3–xMoO3, where x = 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mol%, were analyzed for their radiation shielding properties. The study seeks to observe the effect of increasing the concentration of MoO3 on gamma photon shielding features. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) of the fabricated glasses was measured experimentally at five different gamma-ray energies 0.662, 0.184, 0.28, 0.71, and 0.81 MeV. Moreover, the LAC's experimental results of all fabricated glass samples were compared with the Monte Carlo simulation code (MCNP-5) and XCOM program. The measured data and those obtained theoretically using the MCNP-5 code and XCOM program showed strong compatibility. Various parameters were analyzed to determine the glasses' viability as radiation shields, including mass attenuation coefficient, linear attenuation coefficient, radiation protection efficiency, transmission factor, half-value layer, and mean free path. The data were recorded and plotted, and it was determined that the glass coded as MB20 is the most efficient radiation shield out of the investigated samples. The experimental measurements depict that the highest LAC obtained at gamma photon energy 0.184 MeV decreased in the range between 0.557 and 0.894 cm−1, while the lowest obtained at 0.81 MeV and decreased from 0.218 to 0.38 cm−1 for the investigated glass samples MB0 and MB20, respectively.

Ta2O5 reinforced Bi2O3–TeO2–ZnO glasses: Fabrication, physical, structural characterization, and radiation shielding efficacy

The melt-quenching method was applied to fabricate a new glass series containing 10Bi 2 O 3 –70TeO 2 -(20-x)ZnO-xTa 2 O 5 , x = 0, 2, 4, and 6 mol%. The chemical compounds were well mixed and melted in a furnace at 900 °C, and then the molten transferred to another furnace at 320 °C for annealing. X-ray diffraction is used to confirm the amorphous phase of the fabricated glasses. Moreover, the fabricated glasses' structure characterization was established using Raman analyses. Besides, the gamma-ray protection capacity was evaluated for the fabricated glass series. Thus, the MCNP-5 simulation code and XCOM software program were utilized to estimate the investigated glass samples' linear attenuation coefficients. The glass sample's highest attenuation coefficient, with 6 mol % of the Ta 2 O 5 doping ratio is ranged between 418.17 and 0.27 cm −1 . In comparison, the fabricated glass without Ta 2 O 5 possesses the lowest attenuation factor and decreased from 359.39 cm -1 to 0.26 cm −1 , raising the incoming photon energy from 0.015 MeV to 15 MeV, respectively. The simulated linear attenuation coefficient was then applied to calculate the half-value thickness, and transmission factor for the incoming photons. The obtained results showed that the fabricated glass samples' shielding ability enhanced with the insertion of the Ta 2 O 5 . • New glass system of chemical composition 10Bi 2 O 3 -70TeO 2 -(20-x)ZnO-xTa 2 O 5 ; where x=0, 2, 4, and 6 mol% have been prepared. • Density and molar volume values were calculated for each synthesized sample by using the Archimedes principle. • Raman spectra were obtained from the region of 100-4000 cm -1 . • Shielding capacity for glass samples have been investigated via MCNP-5 and Xcom.

Novel borosilicate glass system: Na2B4O7-SiO2-MnO2: Synthesis, average electronics polarizability, optical basicity, and gamma-ray shielding features

A novel glass system with a chemical composition described by the formula 50SiO2– (48+x) Na2B4O7 – x MnO2 (0≤x≤2 mol %) was fabricated using a melt-quenching method. An XRD diffractometer procedure was applied to check the state of these glass samples. Obtaining the physical and optical values of the manganese borosilicate glass system can help develop solid-state devices and optical memory equipment. The energy gap shifting to higher energies may be due to the formation of bridging oxygens (BO). Urbach energies decrease in the range between 0.736 and 0.485 eV, with increasing the borax concentration between 48-50 mol %, respectively. The polarizability and optical basicity were investigated based on the experimental values of the refractive index for the fabricated glass samples. The polarizability and basicity were found to have the same trend as the refractive index. Monte Carlo N-particle transport code (MCNP-5) was applied to evaluate the gamma-shielding features for the investigated glass samples at gamma-photon energies between 0.248 and 1.406 MeV. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) was simulated based on the average track length of the gamma photons inside the fabricated glass samples. The highest LAC was achieved for the G5 glass sample, which has no MnO2 and changed between 0.330-0.153 cm−1 for photons with energy ranged between 0.248 and 1.406 MeV, respectively.

Fabrication, optical characteristic, and nuclear radiation shielding properties of newly synthesised PbO–GeO2 glasses

In this study, optical properties and nuclear protective efficiency of newly fabricated PbO–GeO2 glass samples (GP) fabricated with different concentration of TiO2 (0.2%, 0.5%, and 4%, in wt%) were investigated. PbO–GeO2 glass samples have been prepared by the conventional melt-quenching method. Using optical absorption spectra, band gap and optical properties of the PbO–GeO2 glass samples were evaluated. In addition, mass attenuation coefficient values of the fabricated glass samples were calculated in the energy range of 0.015–15 MeV using MCNPX simulation and the theoretical WinXcom program. In addition, several nuclear shielding parameters were calculated for gamma ray and neutrons such as half-value layer, mean free path, effective atomic number (Zeff), exposure buildup factor, energy absorption buildup factor, and fast neutron removal cross sections (ΣR). The results showed that glass sample with 0.2% of TiO2 and with the highest density has an excellent nuclear radiation shielding ability for gamma ray, whereas the one with the highest TiO2 contribution (4.0% of TiO2) has a better protection against fast neutrons shielding among the produced glass samples. The results also showed a slight change for the Eopt with TiO2 concentration and the same applies to the refractive index. However, Eopt tends to decrease when TiO2 concentration increases and, consequently, the refractive index tends to increase.

Synthesis, physical, optical, mechanical, and radiation attenuation properties of TiO2–Na2O–Bi2O3–B2O3 glasses

A series of bismo-borate (50-x)B2O3-xTiO2-15Na2O–30Bi2O3 glass samples (where x = 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 wt%) doped with TiO2 were fabricated via the melt-quenching technique. The gamma and neutron shielding, physical, optical, and mechanical properties of the prepared samples were investigated. The experimental results were measured using an HPGe detector. 152Eu, 133Ba, 137Cs, and 60Co radioactive sources were used with energies in the range of 81–1408 keV. The experimental results were compared with both the FLUKA code and the XCOM database. The addition of TiO2 increased the density of the glass samples and decreased their molar volume. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) decreased as photon energy decreased, while it increased as TiO2 concentration increased. The half value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP) of the glass samples increased when the photon energy increased and decreased as the TiO2 concentration increased. The absorbance of the present samples is enhanced by using TiO2, meaning they can be used to protect humans from UV light. Both direct and indirect band gaps decreased as TiO2 content increased from 0 to 10 wt %. Moreover, the electronic transition between localized states is valid in the present samples. The radiation shielding, optical, physical, and mechanical properties of the fabricated glass samples demonstrate their utility for diagnostic gamma shielding.

Newly developed Zinc-Tellurite glass system: An experimental investigation on impact of Ta2O5 on nuclear radiation shielding ability

In this paper, the nuclear shielding properties of newly fabricated Zinc-Tellurite glasses doped with Ta2O5 with a composition (25ZnO.75TeO2)100-x.(Ta2O5)x (x=0, 1, 2, 3 mol%) were studied. Ta2O5 doped Zinc-Tellurite glasses prepared by the traditional melt quenching method. The mass attenuation coefficients were achieved for prepared glasses at 0.081-0.383 MeV photon energies employing experimental transmission measurements, which were performed with 3 Ci Ba-133 point source and Ultra Ge detector. The experimental results were compared with simulated MCNPX and theoretical WinXCOM data. Moreover, another important nuclear shielding parameters such as mass attenuation coefficient, half value layer, effective atomic number, effective electron density, equivalent atomic numbers, alpha and proton projected ranges, mass stopping power in the protection of gamma, neutron, alpha and proton radiation were calculated. In addition, buildup factors of investigated glasses were determined by using the G-P fitting method. Moreover, effective removal cross section ΣR and transition factors were determined. According to the results, the addition of Ta2O5 to the glass samples has a positive effect on the performance of nuclear shielding effects of the glass samples. It can be concluded that ZTT3 glass sample with the highest Ta2O5 contribution has excellent nuclear radiation shielding ability among the other fabricated glass samples.

Titania nanoparticles embedded Er3+-Sm3+ co-doped sulfophosphate glass: Judd-Ofelt parameters and spectroscopic properties enhancement

The conventional melt quenching method was used to synthesis erbium and samarium ions co-doped sulfophosphate glasses containing TiO2 nanoparticles with the molar compositions of (58.0-x)P2O5-20.0MgO-20.0ZnSO4-1.0Sm2O3-1.0Er2O3-xTiO2 with x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 mol%. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique was applied to verify that the nature of fabricated glass samples is of amorphous type. Judd-Ofelt (JO) intensity (Ωi) parameters were determined through spectral data provided in the investigations conducted on the optical absorption. The applied JO parameterization illustrates the covalency related to rare-earth (RE) ions and ligands. For some given lasing levels, the radiative parameters were estimated including branching ratios (βR), radiative lifetimes (τR), and radiative transition probabilities (A). The photoluminescence spectra provided in some studies are used to evaluate the stimulated emission cross-sections (σpE) for some important lasing transitions including 4G5/2→6H5/2, 4G5/2→6H7/2, and 4G5/2→6H9/2. The determined radiative parameters are potential options as a candidate for lasing.

Comprehensive study on the nonlinear optical properties of lanthanum nanoparticles and lanthanum oxide doped zinc borotellurite glasses

Recently, the rapid growth in photonic field has increased the demand for nonlinear materials with higher performance and greater efficiency. Hence, a thorough investigation on the nonlinear optical properties of materials are essential and need to be done for possible future application of the material in photonic field as optical limiting or optical switching devices. Thus, through this research, the crucial parameters in nonlinear optical properties of zinc borotellurite glasses doped with lanthanum oxide and lanthanum nanoparticles were studied and investigated extensively. The two series of glasses were successfully fabricated via conventional melt-quenching technique. The fabricated samples were characterized by using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy as well as Z-scan technique in order to study the structural and nonlinear optical properties of the glass systems. The existence of various amount of TeO4, TeO3, BO4 and BO3 in all the prepared glasses are proven through the observable absorption bands in the FTIR spectra. Inconsistent trends recorded for both nonlinear absorption coefficient and nonlinear refractive index might be associated with the simultaneous creation of bridging as well as nonbridging oxygen which eventually affect the values for both parameters. The figure of merit of the prepared glasses with values ranging from 0.055 to 0.267 which are smaller than one hints that the glass materials possess potential to be employed as all optical devices. 0.03 M fraction of lanthanum nanoparticles doped zinc borotellurite with FOM value larger than 1 has proven the ability of the respective glass to be employed as efficient all optical switching devices. The determined nonlinear optical parameters of the glasses should be able to provide sufficient and useful information on the fabricated glass samples for future application in photonic field.