Photoluminescence in the UV–VIS region of polyvalent ions in glasses

Photoluminescence in the ultraviolet and visible region is a very sensitive analytical method and also an important optical property of glasses which depends strongly on active centers, surrounding host glass composition and their interactions. Fluoride, phosphate, and silicate glasses doped with active luminescent ions of different electronic configurations were investigated. Ions with s2 configuration, Sn2+, Pb2+, Sb3+, absorb strongly in the ultraviolet and yield broad emission bands in the ultraviolet and blue spectral area. Mn2+ ions (3d5) provide broad red emission in fluoride and phosphates due to octahedral coordination, and green emission in silicates by tetrahedral coordination, with long lifetime. Rare earth ions with 4fn configuration show a lot of sharp excitation and emission bands. Red emission is given by Sm3+ (4f5) and Eu3+ (4f6) ions in all glasses investigated. Yellow emission of Eu2+ (4f7) was detected in fluorides. Efficient green emission was obtained with Ho3+ (4f10) and Er3+ (4f11) especially in fluoride hosts.