Influence of Sm2O3 Substitution on Mechanical Properties, Crystallization Kinetics, Radiation Shielding and Judd-Ofelt Analysis of Borosilicate Glasses

Abstract

The present study investigates the influence of Sm 2 O 3 substitution on the mechanical properties, crystallisation kinetics, radiation shielding and Judd-Ofelt parameters of the prepared 50SiO 2 + 40B 2 O 3 + (10 -x)M gO + (x)Sm 2 O 3 , x = 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 mol% glass compositions. Elastic moduli were determined using the Makishima-Mackenzie, Rocherulle and bond compression models. Crystallisation kinetics, especially activation energies (E g , E x and E c ) were analysed via the Kissinger and Augis-Bennett methods. The glass network reinforcement increases with the replacement of MgO with Sm 2 O 3 , resulting in enhanced rigidity of the present glass samples.Further, crystallisation activation energies increase with an increase in Sm 2 O 3 concentration.The phenomenological intensity parameters Ω λ (λ = 2, 4, 6) were determined through the Judd-Ofelt theory utilising a least-squares fitting method. To assess the suitability of Sm 3+ ions in borosilicate glass for photonic applications, important spectroscopic parameters, like transition probability (A r ), branching ratio (β r ), radiative lifetime (τ R ), and peak emission cross-section (σ p ) were obtained for each transition band. The examined glasses are promising candidates for laser applications as compared to the other Sm 2 O 3 doped glass systems that exist in the literature.