Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectra of gadolinium(III) ions in lead acetate glasses

In recent years there has been considerable interest in the research on common glasses and other less common non-crystalline solids containing rare-earth ions, because of their potential applications as materials for luminescent solar concentrators, sensitized and controllable solid state lasers and other currently developed electronic devices. Here, Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) studies have been made on lead acetate glasses doped with Gd(III) ions on a X-band ESR spectrometer in the temperature rang 123 K to 423 K. The spectrum exhibits three features with effective g-values of [approximately] 5.6, 2.83 and 2.02 and weaker features at g = 3.6 and 4.3. The spectra are similar to the U'' spectra familiar in many oxide and fluoride glasses, which confirms once more that the rare-earth ions tend to impose their own environment when introduced into a glass. Remarkable changes have been observed in the EPR spectrum, with changes in temperature, particularly at the glass transition temperature (T[sub g] = 3.17 K).