Waveguide laser potency of samarium doped BaSO4-TeO2-B2O3 glasses: Evaluation of structural and optical qualities

Highlights: • Samarium doped barium-sulfo-telluro-borate glasses were prepared. • Achieved glasses were ionic in character with enhanced attributes. • Structure and radiative properties of glasses were improved with Sm³⁺ contents. • Proposed glasses were shown to be suitable for waveguide laser application. -- Abstract: A series of samarium ions (Sm³⁺) doped barium-sulfur-telluro-borate glasses of composition (70-x)B₂O₃-15BaSO₄-15TeO₂-xSm₂O₃ (x ranged from 0.0 to 2.5 mol%) was prepared by melt-quenching method and examined via diverse analytical tools. Influence of changing Sm³⁺ doping contents on the structures and optical attributes of the proposed glasses was determined. The XRD pattern of as-quenched samples verified their glassy states. The FTIR spectra displayed the vibrational modes of tellurites and borates functional groups in the corresponding range of 460–850 cm⁻¹ and 700–1650 cm⁻¹. The EDX elemental maps confirmed the homogeneous distribution of the traced elements in the glass matrix. The UV–Vis–NIR absorption spectra of glasses exhibited nine distinct bands compatible with the transition from lower ⁶H_5/2 state to the excited ⁶P_3/2, ⁴I_11/2, ⁶F_11/2, ⁶F_9/2, ⁶F_7/2, ⁶F_5/2, ⁶F_3/2, ⁶H_15/2 and ⁶F_1/2 states of Sm³⁺. The photoluminescence spectra showed four emission bands allotted to magnetic dipole ⁴G_5/2 → ⁶H_5/2 (moderate green at 562 nm), electric dipole dominated ⁴G_5/2 → ⁶H_7/2 (intense orange at 598 nm), electric dipole ⁴G_5/2 → ⁶H_9/2 (moderate red at 645 nm) and ⁴G_5/2 → ⁶H_11/2 (weak red at 703 nm) transitions in Sm³⁺, respectively. Glasses containing Sm₂O₃ contents above 1.0 mol% disclosed luminescence intensity quenching. Evaluated Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters Ω_2, Ω_4, and Ω₆ were discerned to range from 1.48 × 10⁻²⁰–4.2 × 10⁻²⁰ cm², 2.31 × 10⁻²⁰–4.31 × 10⁻²⁰ cm² and 1.26 × 10⁻²⁰–1.99 × 0⁻²⁰ cm² respectively. Furthermore, the lifetime of the samples decreases with increase in Sm³⁺ contents as unraveled by decay curve analysis. The achieved excellent spectroscopic properties of the proposed glass composition suggested their effectiveness as visible laser for waveguide applications.