Eu³⁺-doped gadolinium borate glass system development for optical and scintillation applications

This paper describes the development and characterization of the Eu³⁺-doped Ba-Na-B glass system with the varying of Gd₂O₃ concentrations from 0 to 10 mol%. The photoluminescence emission spectra, excited with 393 nm at Eu³⁺ ions, show strong luminescence with a peak emission wavelength of 613 nm (⁵D₀→⁷F₂). The highest emission intensity is belonged to the glass sample with 2.5 mol% of Gd₂O₃. The phonon energy of the host glasses, evaluated from the phonon sideband analysis, is 1017 cm⁻¹. The emission spectra, excited with 275 nm at Gd³⁺ ions, show the emission band according to the Gd³⁺→Gd³⁺ transition at 311 nm (⁴P_7/2→⁸S_7/2) and show the Gd³⁺→Eu³⁺ energy transfer, resulting in the emission of light at the characteristic wavelengths of the Eu³⁺. The highest photoluminescence emission intensity is belonged to the glass sample with 2.5 mol% of Gd₂O₃, due to its highest energy transfer efficiency at 59.10%. The emitting light of all the glass samples for both excited with 393 nm (Eu³⁺) and 275 nm (Gd3⁺) can be all represented by the x,y color coordinates at (0.65, 0.35) in reddish-orange region. The radioluminescence emission spectra, excited by 50 kV, 30 mA X-ray generator, show the emission bands with Eu³⁺ characteristics. The highest radioluminescence emission intensity is belonged to the glass sample with 7.5 mol% of Gd₂O₃ with the highest scintillation efficiencies at 20.61% compared to the BGO sample.