The effect of titanium oxide on the optical properties of lithium potassium borate glass

Borate glass is one of the popular hosts that have been widely used in technological applications. In this work, Li2O-K2O-B2O3 (LKB) glasses co-doped with different concentration of titanium oxide (TiO2) have been prepared by chemical quenching technique. The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) results showed the amorphous nature of the sample. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, energy band gap, density, ion concentration, molar volume, Polaron radius and inter-nuclear distance and other significant parameters have been analyzed in the light of the different oxidation states of the dopant ions in the glass matrix. Based on the up-conversion phenomenon, the addition of different concentration of TiO2 ions illustrates its effect on the Photoluminescence (PL) emission of LKB. Due to the change in the activator concentration, a broad blue emission with intensity of around 300 (au) has been observed with 0.3 mol% concentration. Enhancement of about three times has been shown with the increment of 0.7 mol% in concentration. The current results are attributed to electron-phonon vibration obtained after the charge transferred from the valence state (O-2/2p(6)) to the conductive state (Ti/3d). The new host showed a non-linear optical relation, that promises to be useful for future optical and electro-optical devices, related to telecommunications, optical storage, and all-optical computing disciplines, particularly for the sample doped with 0.7 mol%. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.