Role of titanium valence states in optical and electronic features of PbO–Sb2O3–B2O3:TiO2 glass alloys

PbO–Sb2O3–B2O3 glasses mixed with different concentrations of TiO2 (ranging from 0 to 1.5 mol.%) were synthesized. The samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and DSC techniques. A variety of properties, i.e. optical absorption, photoluminescence, infrared, ESR spectra, magnetic susceptibility, photo-induced birefringence (PIB) and dielectric properties (constant ɛ′, loss tan δ, a.c. conductivity σac over a wide range of frequency and temperature) of these glass–ceramics have been explored. The analysis of these results indicated that Ti ion surrounding ligands play principal role in the observed PIB and the sample crystallized with 0.8 mol.% of TiO2 is the most suitable for the applications in non-linear optical devices.