Synthesis, optical and magnetic properties of Nd2O3/borate strontium fluoride glasses

The present work conducts the synthesis, thermal, optical, and magnetic characterization of (60-x)B2O3+20Li2O+20SrF2+ x Nd2O3 where x = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 mol% glass samples. The samples were investigated via X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). XRD patterns for borate strontium fluoride glass samples doped with Nd2O3 showed broad humps around 30 and 43°, indicating their amorphous structure. Raman spectra of glass samples indicated that as Nd3+ ions were added to the host matrix, there was an increase in Raman intensity due to bond breakdown and the development of more non-bridging oxygen (NBO) species. The DSC data of the borate strontium fluoride glass samples doped with Nd2O3 demonstrated that the glass transition temperature (Tg) generally increased. UV–Vis absorption spectra showed transitions in Nd3+ ions doped borate glasses that are associated with the bands at different wavelengths, attributed to 4G5/2+2G7/2, 2H11/2, 4F9/2, 2H9/2 +4F5/2, and 4F3/2. The refractive index of borate strontium fluoride glass samples doped with Nd2O3 increased. The saturation magnetization values decreased from 0.9 to 0.29 upon increasing the Nd2O3 percentage (0–2 mol%). These low saturation magnetization glass samples can be used in spintronic devices to effectively reduce switching current density and lower the damping constant.