Effect of Nd3+ ions on Physical and Optical Properties of Yttrium Lead Borotellurite Glass System

Nd3+ doped yttrium lead borotellurite glasses were successfully synthesised by using melt-quenching method with the chemical composition (49-x)H3BO3-35TeO(2)-15PbO-1.0Y(2)O(3-x)Nd(2)O(3) (where x = 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 mol%). The physical properties such as density, molar volume and oxygen packing density (OPD) were calculated while the optical properties have been studied through UV-Vis spectroscopy in order to determine the optical band gap (E-opt) and Urbach energy (Delta E) of the glass system. From the absorption edge studies, the value of the E-opt lies between 2.681 eV to 2.817 eV for the direct transition and 2.702 eV to 2.912 eV for indirect transition respectively. Meanwhile, the Delta E was observed in the range of 0.219 eV to 0.517 eV respectively. The physical and optical properties were found to be strongly affected on varying the concentration of Nd3+ ions. The results for density, molar volume and OPD will be analysed and discussed in detail.