Low and high field sites of Cr3+ ions in calcium tetraborate glasses

This paper presents electron paramagnetic resonance and detailed optical spectroscopic characterization of CaB4O7 glasses doped with Cr3+. The luminescence excitation spectrum consists of two broad bands related to transitions from the ground state 4A2g to the excited states 4T1g and 4T2g of the octahedrally coordinated Cr3+ ions. The photoluminescence spectrum is a superposition of the R line related to the 2Eg → 4A2g transition and broad band related to the 4T2g → 4A2g transition. The analysis of electron paramagnetic resonance spectra allowed to distinguish different Cr3+ sites, whereas the analysis of luminescence and luminescence excitation spectra allowed to characterize the crystal field distribution in the glass host.