Judd-Ofelt parameters of Er in transparent TeO2-based nanocrystallized glasses

Transparent Er³⁺-doped bulk nanocrystallized (size of nanocrystals: ∼40 nm) glasses of 15K₂O·15Nb₂O₅·70TeO₂·0.5Er₂O₃ and 10BaO·10Gd₂O₃·80TeO₂·0.5Er₂O₃ are prepared, and the Judd-Ofelt parameters, (t=2, 4, 6), of Er³⁺ are evaluated from optical absorption spectra. The change in the molar polarizability due to the nanocrystallization is small in both samples, but a clear decrease in the mean atomic volume due to the nanocrystallization, i.e. more close atom packing, is observed. In both systems, a large decrease is observed in the parameter due to the nanocrystallization, indicating that the degree of the site symmetry of Er³⁺ ions in nanocrystallized glasses is much higher than that in the precursor glasses. The decrease in the and parameters due to the crystallization is small, suggesting that the covalency of Er³⁺-O bonds in nanocrystals is not so different from that in the precursor glasses.