Impact of Y2O3 on structural, mechanical and nonlinear optical properties of CrO3-Na2O-B2O3 glasses

Herein, we investigate the effects of transition metal (Cr3+), alkali (Na1+), and rare earth (Y3+) ion doping on the structural, mechanical, and nonlinear optical properties of borate glass. The structural parameters revealed peculiar behaviors. The total ions concentrations values decreased from 2.13 × 1022 cm−3 for 0 mol% of Y2O3 to 2.04 × 1022 cm−3 for 5 mol% of Y2O3. The atomic packing density parameter (APD) values decreased from 67 % for 0 mol% of Y2O3 to 62 % for 5 mol% of Y2O3 additions. The mechanical parameters such as Young, shear, and bulk moduli showed decreased behaviors with further Y2O3 additions. The linear and nonlinear optical properties, such as refractive index, third-order nonlinear susceptibility, nonlinear refractive index, metallization criterion, average electronegativity, electronic polarizability, and optical basicity, were evaluated. The linear and nonlinear refractive indices showed increasing behaviors with further Y2O3 additions. These increased behaviors were attributed to the increased content of nonbridging oxygens with more Y2O3 additions. The present glasses have metallization criterion values between 0.377 and 0.387, which are optimal for use in nonlinear optical devices.