Comprehensive Analysis of Physical, Structural, and Optical Properties of Dy ³⁺ Doped Sodium Strontium Zinc Borate Glasses

ABSTRACT Dy 3+ ‐activated sodium strontium zinc borate (NSZB:Dy) glasses with composition 20 Na 2 O − 10 SrO − 9 ZnO − (61 − x) B 2 O 3 − x Dy 2 O 3 (where x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 mol%) have been synthesized to explore their physical, structural, and optical attributes. These glasses were prepared using the conventional melt–quenching technique and were characterized through X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and UV–visible spectroscopic techniques. Density measurements have been performed using Archimedes principle, and thorough analysis of other physical parameters namely average molecular weight, molar volume, polaron radius, ion concentration, inter‐nuclear distance, and optical basicity have also been conducted. X‐ray diffraction confirmed the amorphous nature of glasses while FTIR analysis highlighted the presence of various structural groups present in prepared amorphous media. Optical absorption spectra, with wavelengths ranging from 280 to 850 nm, displayed absorption peaks/bands originating from ground state of Dy 3+ . The indirect optical band gap of the glasses was determined using Tauc's plot and was observed to decrease with increasing Dy 2 O 3 concentration. The band gap values were used to calculate other optical parameters and were seen to vary with Dy 2 O 3 content.