Influence of Y2O3 Concentration on the Optical Properties of Multicomponent Glasses and Glass–Ceramics

Abstract

The optical properties and structural characterization of multicomponent silicate glasses of low Al2O3 and different Y2O3 concentrations have been studied. These glasses have also been crystallized to obtain glass–ceramic materials, and their properties have been characterized. The obtained glasses were transparent and their refractive indexes increased with Y2O3 concentration. After a heat treatment at 930 °C for 10 min, these glasses maintained their transparency, but a brown color appeared, and after 30 min, those glasses with high Y2O3 concentrations turned opaque or white in color. These processes of crystallization for obtaining the new glass–ceramics have been studied by means of FTIR and Raman spectroscopies, and the crystallized materials were characterized with XRD and FE-SEM techniques. These glasses and glass–ceramics have also been characterized by means of UV–vis spectroscopy, and the corresponding optical properties (reflectance, color, band-gap) have been determined as a function of the Y2O3 concentrations and the structural properties.