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Tb 3+ as probe ion—Clustering and phase separation in borate and borosilicate glasses
Author(s) -
Herrmann Andreas,
Völksch Günter,
Ehrt Doris
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of applied glass science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.383
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 2041-1294
pISSN - 2041-1286
DOI - 10.1111/ijag.13209
Subject(s) - borosilicate glass , terbium , materials science , boron , analytical chemistry (journal) , ion , phase (matter) , fluorescence , borate glass , doping , luminescence , chemistry , optics , optoelectronics , composite material , physics , organic chemistry , chromatography
Various borate and borosilicate glasses doped with Tb 3+ in a broad concentration range of 1 × 10 18 to 1 × 10 21 Tb 3+ per cm 3 (~0.01 to 10 wt% Tb 2 O 3 ) were prepared and characterized by different methods. Static fluorescence excitation and emission spectra of Tb 3+ in the ultraviolet‐visible range were recorded. The fluorescence decay rates of the green emission were measured and fitted. Different lifetimes dependent on different local sites of Tb 3+ ions were detected. To identify these different local sites crystalline terbium borate, TbBO 3 , was prepared and investigated. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and electron microscopy measurements were used. Very strong clustering effects of Tb 3+ ions were detected as preliminary stage of phase separation by formation of a very short decay rate in optically clear borate containing glasses with low optical basicity. In glass samples with phase separation, the Tb 3+ ions were accumulated in the phase with higher optical basicity. The local sites of the Tb 3+ ions in the clusters induce a short lifetime which is similar to the lifetime of crystalline TbBO 3 . Only mono‐exponential decay curves for Tb 3+ fluorescence were detected in sodium borosilicate glass with high optical basicity, and in zinc borate glass, without tendency to phase separation.