Effect of Nd3+ ions on Physical and Optical Properties of Yttrium Lead Borotellurite Glass System

•The density of Nd3+ doped yttrium lead borotellurite glass samples is found to increases with increasing the concentration of Nd2O3 from 0.0 mol % to 2.5 mol %.•The molar volume for Nd3+ doped yttrium lead borotellurite glass is totally opposite to density.•The values of oxygen packing density for Nd3+ doped yttrium lead borotellurite glass seen to vary with respect to concentration of Nd2O3 content.•The optical band gap for Nd3+ doped yttrium lead borotellurite glass tend to increase with the incorporation of the dopants. Nd3+ doped yttrium lead borotellurite glasses were successfully synthesised by using melt-quenching method with the chemical composition (49-x)H3BO3-35TeO2-15PbO-1.0Y2O3-xNd2O3 (where x = 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 mol%). The physical properties such as density, molar volume and oxygen packing density (OPD) were calculated while the optical properties have been studied through UV-Vis spectroscopy in order to determine the optical band gap (Eopt) and Urbach energy (ΔΕ) of the glass system. From the absorption edge studies, the value of the Eopt lies between 2.681 eV to 2.817 eV for the direct transition and 2.702 eV to 2.912 eV for indirect transition respectively. Meanwhile, the ΔΕ was observed in the range of 0.219 eV to 0.517 eV respectively. The physical and optical properties were found to be strongly affected on varying the concentration of Nd3+ ions. The results for density, molar volume and OPD will be analysed and discussed in detail.