Oxyfluoroborate host glass for upconversion application: phonon energy calculation

Reducing the glass phonon energy is an essential procedure to achieve high efficient radiative upconversion process. The degree of covalence of chemical bonds is responsible for the high oscillator strength of intracenter transitions in rare-earth ions. So, conversion covalent to ionic glass character is proposed as a structure-sensitive criterion that controls the phonon energy of the glasses. A series of oxyfluoro aluminum-borate host glasses used for upconversion application is prepared by the conventional melt-quenching technique. Through lithium oxide substitution by lithium fluoride, the ionic-covalent property of Li+ ion successes to regulate the band gap energies of the studied glasses. Furthermore, a new method to determine the glass phonon energy is offered.