Optical-physical-electrical properties of Er3+:B2O3-BaO-RF glasses

This paper deals with preparation and characterization of Er3+:B2O3-BaO-RF (RF=LiF, KF or NaF) glasses. From the measured absorption spectra of these glasses, the energy-level structure and spectral intensity parameters have been computed. Under a UV source, the Er3+-doped glasses have displayed bright green colour due to the emission transition (S-4(3/2) --> I-4(15/2)) at 530 nm. Based on the refractive indices (n(f), n(d) and n(c)) the non-linearity characteristic parameters have been evaluated to understand the dispersive powers in these glasses. Besides the estimation of densities and the related physical property parameters, the d.c. conductivity values have been measured to study their activation energy as a function of the change of alkali in the glass matrices. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.