High pressure luminescence study of Sm³⁺: K–Ba–Al fluorophosphate glass

Abstract

The luminescence spectra and decay curves for the ⁴G_5/2 level of Sm³⁺ ions in 55.95P₂O₅+14K₂O+6KF+14.95BaO+9Al₂O₃+0.1Sm₂O₃ glass, referred to as PKFBASm01, have been studied as a function of pressure up to 40.5 GPa at room temperature. With the increase in pressure, a continuous red shift of the ⁴G_5/2→⁶H_{9/2, 7/2, 5/2} transitions and a progressive increase in the magnitude of the crystal-field splittings for these transitions are observed. The decay curves for the ⁴G_5/2 level of the Sm³⁺ ions in PKFBASm01 glass are found to exhibit single exponential behavior at ambient pressure and become non-exponential at higher pressures, accompanied by shortening of lifetimes. A generalized Yokoto–Tanimoto model has been used to explain the pressure-induced non-exponential nature of the decay curves.

Keywords:

• RE³⁺ ions in glass
• high pressure
• optical properties
• crystal-field effects

Acknowledgements

This work has been supported through a Major Research Project funded by University Grants Commission (F.32-28/ 2006(SR) dt. 19-03-2007), Government of India. One of the authors (C.K.J.) is grateful to the Department Physik, Universität Paderborn, Germany, for his stay as a Guest Scientist.

Notes

^†This paper was presented at the XLVII^th European High Pressure Research Group (EHPRG 47) Meeting, Paris (France), 6–11 September 2009.