Optical and Electrical Properties of Lead Borate Glasses

Abstract

Lead borate glass matrix of composition (x PbO-10 ZnO-(90 − x) B₂O₃), (x = 50–90 wt.%) was prepared by the melt quenching technique. The amorphous nature of these glasses was confirmed via x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. Both infrared spectra (400–4000 cm⁻¹) and UV–visible absorption 200–1100 nm have been measured for all prepared samples in order to study the optical properties of samples. We found that the optical energy gap (\[ E_{\rm{gap}}^{\rm{optical}} \]) decreased, however, Urbach’s energy (E_U) increased with increasing PbO content. By using UV–visible absorption, electrical conductivity (\[ \sigma_{\rm{electrical}} \]), optical conductivity (\[ \sigma_{\rm{optical}} \]), refractive index (n), extinction coefficient (k), optical complex dielectric constant (ε), surface and volume energy loss functions (SELF and VELF) have been calculated. In addition to optical basicity (Λ_th), optical basicity on the basis of optical band gap (\[ \varLambda_{{E_{\rm{gap}} }} \]), and electronic polarizability on the basis of optical band gap (\[ \alpha E_{\rm{gap}}^{\rm{optical}} \]) have been calculated. Dielectric parameters (ε′ and ε″) and ac conductivity (σ_ac) have been carried out in (100 Hz–100 kHz).