The impact of Ag and Cu nanoparticles on optical and magnetic properties of new Tb2O3-PbO-TeO2 glass ceramic system

New lead tellurite glass ceramics doped with terbium (III) oxide and co-doped with AgNPs and CuNPs were obtained by melt quenching technique. The samples were analyzed by XRD, photoluminescence, UV–Vis spectroscopy and magnetic measurements. XRD data were used to estimate the nature of the obtained samples and also to determine the crystallites size. UV–Vis spectra reveal the presence of terbium ions in the batch and, for the samples co-doped with CuNPs, the presence of Cu2+ ions octahedrally surrounded by six oxygen atoms. Optical band gap energy values were calculated based on the UV–Vis data. The photoluminescence spectra exhibit the emission from terbium ions and also reveal the influence of the co-dopant nature on this emission. Magnetic measurements data show a complex behavior due the presence of Tb3+ ions, metal nanoparticles and to the microstructure of samples. •TeO2-PbO-Tb2O3 glass ceramics co-doped with AgNPs, CuNPs or without NPs were prepared.•The differences on optical properties of TeO2-PbO-Tb2O3 systems were described.•The most intense emission peak was the green one, the samples being promising materials for solid state lasers.•The emissions from rare-earth ions were enhanced by AgNPs until 3 mol% Tb2O3.•The magnetic behavior of the samples is due to the Tb3+, but the presence of NPs must be considered too.