Luminescence and second harmonic generation in Eu3+/Eu2+ embedded B2O3: LiNbO3 non-linear glass–ceramics

Abstract Multifunctional europium doped Li 2 O–Nb 2 O 3 –B 2 O 2 glass has been prepared by melt-quench method. Through subsequent heat treatments glass has then been transformed into glass ceramics containing ferroelectric LiNbO 3 phase. The glass ceramics have shown enhanced Eu 3+ emission compared to parent glass when excited by 266 nm radiation. The emission measurements of glass ceramics have also shown the presence of Eu 2+ state along with Eu 3+ and Eu 2+ state was found to increase when glass was heated in inert atmosphere. Lifetime of the 5 D 0 level of the Eu 3+ has been measured and a significant increase is found in case of glass ceramic prepared around glass transition temperature. Glass ceramics have also shown good second harmonic generation (SHG) with pulsed 1064 nm laser excitation.