Structural, photosensitive and radiation shielding characteristics of tungsten alkali borate glasses for photonic and radiation shielding applications

Dy3+ ions doped Tungsten Alkali Borate (TAB) glasses were synthesized by conventional melt-quench technique and characterized for photonic device and radiation shielding applications. The structural analysis was done through XRD and FT-IR measurements. From the FT-IR spectra, the OH content present in the as prepared glass samples has been estimated and it is relatively low compared with other glasses. The Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory was utilised to validate the experimental results and to evaluate the radiative parameters of the glasses. The effect of local ligand field environment around Dy3+ ions has also been understood from J-O intensity parameters. In the photoluminescence (PL) spectra, three emissions in bluish (4F9/2 -> 6H15/2), yellowish (4F9/2 -> 6H13/2) and reddish (4F9/2 -> 6H11/2) regions were observed. A range of radiative properties along with CIE co-ordinates were measured to identify the optimum glass suitable for solid state device applications. Number of radiations shielding parameters were calculated to know the appropriate glass for x-ray and gamma rays shielding applications.