Examining yttrium oxide-doped neodymium-phosphate glass’s optical properties and radiation protection effectiveness

Abstract Melt-quenching was used to develop a new glass series with composition (59.5– x ) P 2 O 5 –20 Li 2 O–15ZnO–5Bi 2 O 3 –0.5 Nd 2 O 3 – x Y 2 O 3 , where x = 0.0, 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mol%. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to investigate these glasses’ glassy structure. Substituting phosphate oxide (P 2 O 5 ) with yttrium oxide (Y 2 O 3 ) increases density and decline molar volume of resulting glass specimen. Y 3+ ions have an impact on the phosphate network by breaking P–O–P bonds, which increases the quantity of non-bridging oxygens (NBOs). The optical measurements of free and doped yttrium were studied in spectral domain from 190 to 1,100 nm. Glasses’ optical characteristics, such as their band gap for direct E g (d) and in direct E g (ind) , surface-energy loss function, and extinction coefficient ( k ), were investigated in connection to energy refractive factor, n , investigated with wavelength. Where band gap E g (ind) decreases from 3.56 eV (N0.5Y0.0) to a minimum of 3.39 eV (N0.5Y1.0). As the Y 3+ ions rises, the transmission (T) falls while reflectance (R) increase suggesting higher absorption and scattering as a result of structural instability and the creation of defect states. The radiation shielding characteristics were then thoroughly evaluated by using Phy-x software and the results were verified with Geant-4 simulation. A modest improvement in LAC values was observed when the mole quantity of Y 2 O 3 in the composite was increased from 0 to 1 mol%. The LAC became 9.921, 10.131, 10.328, and 10.661 cm −1 in N0.5Y0.0, N0.5Y0.25, N0.5Y0.5, and N0.5Y1.0, respectively, for certain energies 0.04 MeV. For N0.5Y0.0, N0.5Y0.25, N0.5Y0.5, and N0.5Y1.0, the radiation shield efficiency (RSE) at 0.081 MeV was 63.0, 63.7, 64.3, and 65.2 % for thickness 0.5 cm, and 86.3, 86.8, 87.2, and 87.9 % for thickness 1 cm. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of Y 2 O 3 -doped materials in gamma ray blocking, and they may find application in radiation protection.