Binary glasses with the composition 40BaO-(60-x) B2O3: x Sm2O3 for x = 0 and 0.5 mol % were prepared by the melt-quenching technique. The prepared glass samples were characterized by optical absorption and photoluminescence spectra were recorded at room temperature. From the optical absorption studies it is found that five transitions from 6H5/2 → 4I11/2, 6P5/2, 6P3/2, 6P7/2 and 4D3/2 were observed at wavelengths 486 nm, 401 nm, 375 nm, 360 nm and 343 nm respectively. From the observed absorption edges optical band gap, the Urbach energies were calculated. The luminescence spectra exhibited conventional orange -red emission bands at around 563 nm, 600 nm, 647nm and 712nm corresponds to the 4G5/2 → 6H5/2, 6H7/2, 6H9/2 and 6H11/2 transitions respectively. The emission spectrum was observed under various excitation wavelengths. The emission spectrum measured is characterized through Commission International d'Eclairage (CIE) 1931 chromaticity diagram to explore its suitability for display and w-LED applications.
