UV-visible and infrared absorption spectra of gamma irradiated CuO-doped lithium phosphate, lead phosphate and zinc phosphate glasses: A comparative study

Undoped and CuO-doped lithium phosphate, lead phosphate and zinc phosphate glasses were prepared. UV-visible and infrared absorption spectra of the prepared samples were measured before and after successive gamma irradiation. Experimental optical spectra of the undoped samples reveal strong UV absorption bands, which are attributed to the presence of trace iron impurities in both the lithium and zinc phosphate glasses while the lead phosphate glass exhibits broad UV bands due to combined absorption of trace iron impurities and divalent lead ions. The CuO-doped glasses reveal an extra broad visible band due to Cu²⁺ ions in octahedral coordination. The effects of gamma irradiation have been analyzed for both the sharing of all constituent components including trace iron impurities. Infrared absorption spectra of the prepared samples were investigated by the KBr disk technique. The FTIR spectra reveal main characteristic absorption bands due to different phosphate groups. The IR spectra are observed to be slightly affected by the increase of CuO in the doping level (0.2-3%) indicating the stability of the main network units.