Structural and luminescence properties of Eu³⁺/Dy³⁺ embedded sodium silicate glass for multicolour emission

Rare earth Eu³⁺/Dy³⁺ ions doped/co-doped Na₂O-SiO₂-ZnO (NSZO) glasses were prepared by the conventional melt-quenching method. The amorphous nature of the prepared glasses was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy whereas elemental compositions and mappings had been obtained from energy dispersive spectroscopic images. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Differential thermal analysis had been done to investigate the presence of the vibrational bands and thermal behaviour of the prepared glass, respectively. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements confirmed the defect related emission from ZnO as well as the bridging and non-bridging oxygen in the NSZO glasses. A near white light emission was observed from the Dy³⁺ doped NSZO glass, while a yellow-red emission was observed from the Eu³⁺ doped and Eu³⁺-Dy³⁺ co-doped NSZO glasses. These NSZO glasses might be applicable for multicolour lighting applications in future.