Optical Properties and Kinetics of the Luminescence Decay of Sm3+ and Sm2+ Ions in Aluminoborosilicate Glasses

Abstract

Multicomponent borosilicate glasses containing 0.5–5 wt % of Sm₂O₃ are synthesized via high-temperature melting in air. Samples are irradiated in a van de Graaff accelerator at 2.5 MeV. The kinetics of the decay of luminescence of Sm³⁺ and Sm²⁺ ions is analyzed, along with the evolution of the lifetimes of the excited states of these ions, depending on the concentration of Sm₂O₃. It is found that the curves for the decay of luminescence can be approximated by a bi-exponential function even for low concentrations of samarium. The results correspond to different structural environments for Sm³⁺ and Sm²⁺ ions.