B2O3-TeO2-ZnO-Na2O-Nd2O3 glass matrices: A comprehensive study of physical, structural, optical, and thermoluminescence properties

The present study reveals the effect of Nd3+ in sodium zinc borotellurite glasses for photonic and dosimetric applications. The melt quenching technique was employed to prepare glass samples for different Nd2O3 compositions (0.0-1.0 mol%) with the empirical chemical relation (60-x)B2O3+20TeO2+10ZnO+10Na2O+xNd2O3. The glass samples were characterized via different techniques for their physical, structural, optical and thermoluminescence behaviour. The Archimede's principle was used to analyse the physical parameters, including density (rho), molar volume (Vm), and oxygen packing density (OPD). XRD spectra indicated the amorphous nature of fabricated glasses and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed ZnO, TeO3, TeO4, BO3, BO4 units and Nd-O bonds present in the glass matrix. The values for indirect (E1opt) gap, Urbach energy (Delta E), cut-off wavelength (lambda c) and other optical parameters were determined from the optical absorption spectra. Thermoluminescence (TL) response of the prepared glasses was analyzed for gamma dose of 1 kGy-13 kGy, among which NBT 0.2 glass sample showed strongest TL intensity at 5 kGy with non-monotonic behaviour. With the use of Computerised Glow Curve Deconvolution (CGCD), various trap parameters, including activation energy (E), order of kinetics (b) and frequency factor (s) have been identified. Low effective atomic number of these glasses, along with their optimal TL response makes them effective for radiation monitoring, pasteurization of sea food and decomposition of drugs at high doses.