Synthesis and Magneto-Optical Performance of a Terbium-Based Hybrid Glass
Rare-earth-doped glasses have attracted sustained interest for magneto-optical applications because they combine high transparency with appreciable Verdet constants. However, conventional inorganic magneto-optical glasses typically require melt processing above 1000 °C and often rely on high contents of costly heavy rare-earth components, both of which increase fabrication complexity and cost. In this work, a desolvation strategy was used to prepare a terbium-based hybrid glass at low temperature. The obtained Tb-based glass shows optical transmittance approaching 80%, a Verdet constant of -22 rad/(T·m) at 405 nm, and a glass-transition temperature near 42 °C. Although the relatively low Tg limits thermal durability, the combination of transparency, compositional homogeneity, and field-linear Faraday rotation demonstrates the potential of rare-earth hybrid glasses for compact photonic and sensing applications.
References
- Carothers, K. J.; Norwood, R. A.; Pyun, J. High Verdet Constant Materials for Magneto-Optical Faraday Rotation: A Review. Chemistry of Materials, 2022, 34, 2531-2544.
- Zhou, B.; Yan, D. Glassy Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Materials for Photonic Applications. Matter, 2024, 7(6), 1950-1976.
- Wei, J.; Zhang, X.; Wang, X.; Liu, Y.; Zhang, Y. New Transparent Rare-Earth-Based Hybrid Glasses: Synthesis, Luminescence, and X-Ray Imaging Application. Aggregate, 2025, 6(5), e70021.
- Franco, D. F.; Fernandes, R. G.; Felix, J. F.; et al. Fundamental Studies of Magneto-Optical Borogermanate Glasses and Derived Optical Fibers Containing Tb3+. Journal of Materials Research and Technology, 2021, 11, 312-327.
- Snetkov, I.; Li, J. Selection of Magneto-Optical Material for a Faraday Isolator Operating in High-Power Laser Radiation. Magnetochemistry, 2022, 8, 168.
- Bellanger, B.; Ledemi, Y.; Messaddeq, Y. Fluorophosphate Glasses with High Terbium Content for Magneto-Optical Applications. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2020, 124, 5353-5362.
- Albino, L. V.; Dussauze, M.; Toulemonde, O.; et al. Paramagnetic Borotungstate Glasses with High Terbium Concentration for Magneto-Optical Applications. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 2024, 627, 122811.
- Liu, B.; Zhu, Z. The Effect of Tb3+ on Magneto-Optical Properties of GeO2-B2O3-Li2O-MgO Glasses. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 2023, 609, 122265.
- Lin, H.; Liu, B.; Zhou, L.; Su, Z. Enhancements of Magneto-Optical Properties of GeO2-PbO-B2O3-SiO2-P2O5 Glass Doped with Tb3+ Ion. Materials Chemistry and Physics, 2022, 282, 125963.
- Zhou, L.; Zhu, Z. Study of Magneto-Optical Properties of GeO2-B2O3-P2O5-ZnO-Tb2O3 Glass Doped with Different Rare-Earth Ions. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 2022, 576, 121241.
- Sasaki, S.; Tanaka, K.; Masuno, A. Magneto-Optical Effect of Rare-Earth-Rich Borate Glasses Prepared Using a Levitation Technique. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 2024, 107(12), 8126-8131.
- Yang, H.; Zhu, Z. Magneto-Optical Glass Mixed with Tb3+ Ions: High Verdet Constant and Luminescence Properties. Journal of Luminescence, 2021, 231, 117804.