Investigation of Sm 3+ ion emission in lead borophosphate glass system with varied modifiers for photonic applications

PbO–B 2 O 3 –P 2 O 5 :Sm 2 O 3 glasses mixed with different modifier oxides viz ., magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, strontium oxide, and barium oxides were prepared by melt-quenching method. The amorphous nature of the samples was confirmed by XRD and SEM studies. Optical absorption (OA), photoluminescence (PL) spectra, and decay characteristics of Sm 3+ ions-doped glasses were registered at room temperature. J–O parameters viz., Ω 2 , Ω 4, and Ω 6 evaluated using the optical absorption spectra were found to be in the following order: Ω 2 > Ω 4 > Ω 6 . Emission spectra obtained at λ exc = 401 nm exhibited four prominent emission bands due to 4 G 5/2 → 6 H 5/2,7/2,9/2,11/2 transitions of Sm 3+ ions in the visible region. Various radiative parameters viz., spontaneous emission probability A, total probability A T , branching ratio β r, and emission cross-section σ E P for different emission levels originated from 4 G 5/2 state were calculated. The emission bands were observed that the intensity of orange and red emissions exhibited an increasing trend as the modifier oxide MgO is successively replaced by CaO, SrO, and BaO. Further, analysis of these results indicated that BaO was the most effective and promising modifier oxide compared to the other three modifier oxides for achieving intense orange-red emissions from Sm 3+ ions and are suitable for efficient photonic applications.