Effect of Ga2O3 on the structure and properties of TeO2–GeO2 glass doped with Pr3+

Abstract A novel glass from the TeO2–GeO2–Ga2O3 system was developed. We studied two series of glass with GeO2/TeO2 molar ratio varied from 0.14 to 0.5 doped with Pr3+. The objective of this paper is to analyze an effect of 16.7 mol% of Ga2O3 admixture on the thermal stability, structure of the glass and the thermoluminescence (TL) properties such as glow curves shape. We showed that Ga2O3 stabilizes the glass, increasing transformation temperature and reducing ΔH significantly. The conversion of [TeO4] to [TeO3] units is observed with an increase of GeO2/TeO2 ratio. The Ga3+ ions play a role of the modifier and facilitate connection between structural units of two glass-formers, preventing phase separation. However, GeO2 increases the band gap of the telluride glass. The admixture of 0.3 mol% Pr6O11 enhances the thermoluminescence of the glass but in different way for series with and without Ga2O3.