Local structure of Er3+ in multicomponent glasses

Erbium environments in several multicomponent glasses are investigated using X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy on the Er L-III-edge. Glass hosts studied include aluminosilicate, fluorosilicate, phosphosilicate, alkali phosphate, fluoride, and another multicomponent silicate glass. The Er-O separation is found to vary only slightly between 2.21 and 2.25 Angstrom. The first shell coordination number is dependent on glass host ranging from 6.3 nearest neighbor anions in the aluminosilicate glass to 10.0 in the fluoride host. The Debye-Waller factor for the first shell is also host dependent. It ranges from 0.021 Angstrom(2) in the phosphate hosts to 0.033 Angstrom(2) in the aluminosilicate glass. While Er-Er correlations are observed in the crystalline Er2O3 standard, no evidence of molecular or short-range clustering of Er3+ ions is found in the glasses. Photoluminescence spectra are also presented for each of the glass hosts examined. (C) 1938 Elsevier Science B,V. All rights reserved.