This study investigates the potential of Gd-Ba-Na borate glasses doped with Sm3+ ions as scintillation materials. The glasses were synthesized using a melt-quenching process, and their luminescence properties were examined. The results demonstrate that the glass sample with 0.5 mol% of Sm3+ exhibits the most promising scintillation performance, achieving the highest integral scintillation efficiency (24.11%) compared to the BGO crystal. For the photoluminescence study, the emission spectra, under 403 nm excitation wavelength, show emission bands centered at 563, 599, 646, and 706 nm, consistent with characteristic Sm3+ transitions. The highest energy transfer efficiency from Gd3+ to Sm3+ (64.37%) is also found in the glass sample with 0.5 mol% Sm3+. The emission color can be tuned by varying the excitation wavelength. Excitation at 403 nm primarily excites Sm3+ ions, resulting in orange emission. In contrast, excitation at 275 nm excites Gd3+ ions, leading to reddish-orange emission. The results demonstrate the potential of this glass composition for use as a highly efficient scintillation material due to its excellent performance in both radioluminescence and photoluminescence properties.
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