Optical spectra and local structure of Eu3+ ions doped in Nb2O5-La2O3-B2O3-BaO glasses

The xNb2O5-(15-x)La2O3-40B2O3-45BaO (x = 5, 7,5, 12.5 mol%) glasses doped with Eu3 mol% are fabricated by the melting method. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, phonon sideband spectra, emission and excitation spectra of the glasses are measured. The crystal field parameter and coordination number of Eu3+ ions in the glasses are obtained according to the splitting of their 5D0 - 7F1 levels. The intensity parametersΩ2 andΩ4 of Eu3+ ions for optical transition are calculated from their emission spectra in terms of reduced matrix U(t) (λ= 2, 4, 6) character for optical transitions. The results indicate that the intensity parametersΩ2 andΩ4 increase with the increase of Nb2O5 content, suggesting that the symmetry becomes lower, the band of Eu and O atoms becomes stronger and the covalence increases with the increase of Nb2O5 content.