Investigation of gamma-ray induced optical property changes in non-doped and Ce-doped lithium-rich oxide glass

Abstract

Gamma ray irradiation effects on non-doped lithium borate (LBO), lithium borosilicate (LBS), and cerium (Ce)-doped lithium borosilicate glasses (LBS) are investigated. All non-doped lithium borosilicate glasses exhibit gamma ray irradiation damage in the form of red shifting of the optical absorption edge, appearance of an absorption peak between 500 nm and 600 nm, and the overall increase of absorption in the visible wavelength region. The absorption peak underwent a red shift as the optical basicity of the glass samples increased. Further investigation of the behavior of Ce in the form of CeO2 and CeF3 in LBS glass before and after gamma ray irradiation reveal that the addition of Ce improved the overall transparency of LBS after irradiation, whereby the formerly observed absorption peak disappeared with an optimum Ce content between 1 mol% and 3 mol%. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy shows an increase in the PL intensity of CeO2-LBS after gamma ray irradiation but a decrease for CeF3-LBS, alluding to the conversion of Ce3+ to Ce4+.