Thermal and optical properties of PbO-KF glasses

Abstract

Glass formation between PbO and KF is reported. The influence of composition on thermal stability, density, molar volume, refractive index, optical band gap, Urbach energy, and Pb2+ emission spectra are presented. While KF influences thermal stability, the PbO content markedly influences the optical properties due to the formation of strong ‐Pb‐O‐Pb‐ covalent linkages. Increasing PbO content also results in phonon assisted nonradiative decay from 1P1 and 3P1 levels to 3P0 level leading to a marked decrease in the 1P1→1S0 emission.