Spectroscopic behaviour of Dy3+ and Sm3+ impurity-doped strontium magnesium borate glasses: A comparative evaluation

Two new series of strontium magnesium borate glasses with Dy3+ and Sm3+ activation (both in the concentration range of 0.1–1.0 mol%) were prepared using the standard melt-quenching and characterized. The optical and physical properties of these singly impurity-doped glass series were compared. The optical and physical properties of these glasses were determined in terms of the density, molar volume, optical band gap, absorption and emission intensities, oscillator strength, refractive index and molar polarizability. The XRD analyses confirmed the amorphous nature of the as-quenched samples. The EDX spectra revealed the actual elemental compositions and FESEM images showed the samples homogeneity without cracks. The UV–vis-NIR absorption spectra of the Dy3+- and Sm3+-doped glasses showed nine and ten characteristics bands respectively. The PL spectra of the Dy3+- and Sm3+-doped glasses displayed three ((at 481 nm, blue; 570 nm, yellow; and 661 nm, red) four (559, 596, 643 and 709 nm) significant peaks, respectively. The lasing potentials of the Dy3+- and Sm3+-doped glasses were compared via Judd-Ofelt evaluation. The values of branching ratio and stimulated emission cross-section for the 4F9/2 → 6H13/2 transition in Dy3+ and 4G5/2 → 6H7/2 transitions in Sm3+ was maximum, indicating their effectiveness towards photonic devices assembly. The studied glasses have demonstrated high viability for the cutting-edge innovations in the solid―state lighting and high gain optical fibre construction.