https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-025-06194-3
Regular Article
Neodymium ion-doped borate-silicate glass: a thorough analysis for applications in optical and protective radiation
1
Department of Physics, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, 11671, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2
Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, 11671, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3
Department of Basic and Applied Science, College of Engineering and Technology, Arab Academy of Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Smart Village, Giza, Egypt
4
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, 32511, Shebin El-Koom, Egypt
5
Basic Engineering Science Department, Faculty of Engineering, Menoufia University, 32511, Shebin El-Koom, Egypt
Received:
13
February
2025
Accepted:
5
March
2025
Published online:
29
March
2025
In this study, neodymium (Nd)-doped bismuth borosilicate glasses were produced using a melting-quenching technique. The glass density rose, and molar volume fell as the Nd3+ ion concentration rose. The influence of Nd substitution on radiation shielding as well as optical properties was investigated. The Phy-X/PSD as well as XCOM programs are used to study radiation shielding properties in the gamma-photon energy band of 0.015: 10 MeV. As the Nd2O3 concentration increased, the band gap (EOPT) levels dropped from 3.221 toward 3.051 eV during the direct transition as well as from 2.622 to 1.855 eV during the indirect transition. As Nd quantity increased, the molar refractivity rose from 19.497 to 21.106 cm3/mol and the refractive index improved from 2.50 to 2.80. The Nd2O3 addition to the glasses led to higher MAC and LAC values. The sample with the highest neodymium doping (Nd-1.2) had the lowest mean free path as well as half-value layer. This demonstrated how neodymium enhances glasses’ capacity to reduce photon radiation. The glass system is suggested as a shielding material in terms of photon attenuation.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
