Optical and thermal properties of TeO₂–B₂O₃–Gd₂O₃ glass systems

New glass samples with composition (1 – x)[(TeO₂)₇₀(B₂O₃)₃₀] – x(Gd₂O₃) with x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 in mol% have been synthesized by conventional melt-quenching techniques. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies were performed in order to confirm the amorphous nature of the samples. The density of the samples has been found to vary with the Gd₂O₃ content, whereas an opposite trend has been observed in the molar volume. The analysis of Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy of the samples showed that the glass network is mainly built of TeO₃, TeO₄, BO₃ and BO₄ units. The addition of Gd₂O₃ changed the refractive index, optical band gap and Urbach energy of the glass samples. The thermal properties of the studied glasses were investigated by measuring the thermal diffusivity of the samples by using photoflash method at room temperature.