Spectroscopic characterisation of local structure in Y2O3–B2O3–Bi2O3 glasses doped with gadolinium

Gadolinium doped bismuth borate glasses containing up to 30 mol% Y2O3 were prepared by fast melt quenching method. The effect of yttrium on the local order in 3B2O3 Bi2O3 and B2O3 Bi2O3 glass matrices, particularly on the bismuth sites, was investigated by infrared (IR) spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of Gd3+ ions. The IR results show that the local structure is more ordered in the glass system with higher bismuth content and the progressive addition of yttrium increases the local disorder in both bismuth–borate glass matrices. The EPR results indicate that Gd3+ ions occupy both bismuth and yttrium sites and reflect the same structural disorder like that suggested by IR results