Hardness and structure of Er3+: Sm3+ co-doped oxychloride zinc tellurite glass

Abstract

Glass samples with composition of (64-x)TeO2 + (x)ZnO + 15 ZnCl2 + 0.5 Sm2O3 + 0.5 Er2O3 (x = 20, 25 and 30 mol%) are prepared by melt quenching method. The season for co-doping with rare earth ions such as samarium (Sm3+) and erbium (Er3+) is to explore the feasibility of their simultaneous exploitation as high performing up-converted lasing materials. The role of varying modifier of ZnO concentration in improving the hardness and structural properties are evaluated. The density is observed to reduce and ionic packing density is augmented with increasing concentration of ZnO. Glass with 25 mol% of ZnO revealed the optimum hardness of 2830 N/mm2. Incorporation of Zn2+ into the tellurite host matrix is found to shift the IR bands position slightly without altering their intensity. Bonding vibrations corresponding to bending of TeO3 unit (784-762 cm-1), stretching of TeO4 units (678-676 cm-1) and Zn-O bonds (462-452 cm-1) are evidenced. Incorporation of ZnO as modifier is established to enhance the hardness and improved the structural properties. The proposed glass composition may be useful for industrial purposes.