Characterization of Er³⁺ doped ZnTeTa semiconducting oxide glass

Er³⁺ doped zinc-tellurite oxide glasses based on 24ZnO.72TeO₂.(4 − x)Ta₂O₅·xEr₂O₃ with different compositions of Er₂O₃ (x = 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2% mol) have successfully been synthesized by the conventional melt-quenching technique. Structures of these glasses have been investigated by means of XRD, DSC and ATR–FTIR spectroscopy. XRD results demonstrated that these glasses were amorphous. DSC measurements gave us glassy transition temperatures (T_g), crys tallization temperatures (T_c) and melting temperatures (T_m). Thermal stability (ΔT) was calculated to vary between 141–152 °C. In addition, DSC also yielded information on the formation of some phases based on temperature. It was understood that TeO₂ forming the glass network was found to be as TeO₄ tbp and TeO₃ tp within the structure since they gave the bands at 570–600 cm⁻¹ and 660–760 cm⁻¹ in FTIR spectra, respectively. Optical properties, optical gaps and Urbach energies of the glasses were determined and their refractive index values were calculated according to the optical gaps. Optical gaps were found to be within the range of 3.10–3.17 eV. 12 characteristic bands belonging to Er³⁺ were determined from the absorbance spectra of synthesized glasses. Electrical conductivity, resistivity and density, molar volume values were also obtained and the results were reported.