Optical Basicity and Polarizability of Nd³⁺-Doped Bismuth Borate Glasses

This paper reports on different physical and optical properties of Nd3+-doped bismuth borate glasses. The glasses containing Nd³⁺ in (25 - x)Bi₂O₃:20Li₂O:20ZnO:35B₂O₃:xNd₂O₃ (where x = 1, 1.5, 2 mol%) have been prepared by melt-quenching method. The amorphous nature of the glasses was confirmed by X-ray diffraction studies. The physical parameters like dielectric constant, refractive index, ionic concentration, oxygen-packing density, inter ionic distance, polaronradius, reflection loss, energy gap, molar refractivity, molar polarizability, electronic polarizability, optical basicity and field strength are computed. On the basis of the measured values of the density and refractive index, the Nd³⁺ ion concentration in glasses, the polarizability of oxide ions and optical basicity were theoretically determined. The theoretical value of average electronic polarizability and oxide ion polarizability were calculated by using Lorentz-Lorenz formula. Theoretical optical basicity of the glasses is evaluated based on equation proposed by Duffy and Ingram. The metallization criterion has also been calculated on the basis of refractive index and energy gap. The large value of metallization criterion indicates that the glass materials are insulators. The results obtained predict the nature of bonding in the present glasses and provide basis for developing new nonlinear optical material.