Impact of europium ions Eu3+ on thermal, optical, and luminescence properties of lithium zinc borate glasses

Eu3+ ions-doped zinc lithium borate glasses were prepared using the conventional melt-quenching technique, and their thermal, absorption, excitation, and emission properties were investigated. The wide hump observed in the X-ray diffraction spectrum analysis confirmed the amorphous behavior of the obtained glassy matrices. The density results showed that the zinc lithium borate glass with the addition of Eu2O3 had a more open structure. The direct and indirect optical energy band gaps (Eg) were calculated and found to decrease with increasing Eu2O3 concentration. Judd–Ofelt (JO) parameters have been calculated from luminescence spectral measurements, unlike other rare earth elements, which are calculated from optical absorption measurements. The luminescence intensity ratio of the 5D0 → 7F2 (electric dipole) transition to the 5D0→ 7F1 (magnetic dipole) transition was used to obtain the strength of the covalent/ionic bond between Eu3+ ions and the surrounding ligands. From the calculated properties, it was suggested that the present glass samples are suitable for use in red light-emitting devices.