Spectroscopic properties and energy transfer parameters of Er3+- doped fluorozirconate and oxyfluoroaluminate glasses

Abstract

Er3+- doped fluorozirconate (ZrF4-BaF2-YF3-AlF3) and oxyfluoroaluminate glasses are successfully prepared here. These glasses exhibit significant superiority compared with traditional fluorozirconate glass (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF) because of their higher temperature of glass transition and better resistance to water corrosion. Judd-Ofelt (J-O) intensity parameters are evaluated and used to compute the radiative properties based on the VIS-NIR absorption spectra. Broad emission bands located at 1535 and 2708 nm are observed, and large calculated emission sections are obtained. The intensity of 2708 nm emission closely relates to the phonon energy of host glass. A lower phonon energy leads to a more intensive 2708 nm emission. The energy transfer processes of Er3+ ions are discussed and lifetime of Er3+: 4I13/2 is measured. It is the first time to observe that a longer lifetime of the 4I13/2 level leads to a less intensive 1535 nm emission, because the lifetime is long enough to generate excited state absorption (ESA) and energy transfer (ET) processes. These results indicate that the novel glasses possess better chemical and thermal properties as well as excellent optical properties compared with ZBLAN glass. These Er3+- doped ZBYA and oxyfluoroaluminate glasses have potential applications as laser materials.

Investigations on structural and luminescence behavior of Er3+ doped Lithium Zinc borate glasses for lasers and optical amplifier applications

“…The Ω 2 values of the title glasses increase from 2.33 to 4.76 with the increase in Er 3+ ion concentration and are found to be higher than the reported oxyfluorozirconate (3.01) [31], SLBiB1.5E (3.91) [32], Bismuth borate (3.24) [33], Lithium borate (3.24), CaLiBO (3.68) [34], Zinc bismuthborate (3.94) [35] and sodalime silicate (2.72) [36] glasses indicating the higher asymmetry and increasing degree of covalency of the ligand field around the Er 3+ ion site. The variation of Ω 2 parameter and transition strength of the hypersensitive transition with varying Er 3+ ion concentrations are shown in Fig.…”

Near/mid‐infrared emission and energy transfer of Er/Tm‐Yb co‐doped β‐NaYF4 microcrystals

“…Similarly, the NIR/MIR emission of Er 3+ /Yb 3+ ‐doped β‐NaYF 4 microcrystals is studied and the effects of Er 3+ /Yb 3+ concentrations on NIR/MIR emission intensity are discussed as shown in Figure . Under the pumping by a 976 nm LD, an emission at 1.5 μm due to the Er 3+ : 4 I 13/2 → 4 I 15/2 transition is clearly observed as shown in Figure . In Figures A,B, it is found that with the increase of Er 3+ concentrations form 0.25 to 3 mol% in β‐NaYF 4 microcrystals the 1.5 μm emission intensity increases remarkably, but the 1.5 μm emission intensity decreases with further increase of Er 3+ concentration.…”

“…NIR luminescent lanthanide materials are in the range of 0.78‐2.5 μm, which receive great attention in wide applications for fiber optical communication, solid‐state laser and fluoroimmunoassay due to its unique narrow line width and long lifetime . The range of MIR luminescence is 2.5‐25 μm, which are potentially important in military and atmosphere pollution monitoring applications . And to our best knowledge, MIR emission has been previously reported in other materials, such as Re‐doped glass or fiber, no any study is reported about the MIR emission of Re‐doped NaYF 4 microcrystals.…”

“…Among various Re ions, it has been investigated that Er 3+ , Tm 3+ ions can provide efficient infrared and visible luminescence . Particularly, 1.5 μm (Er 3+ : 4 I 13/2 → 4 I 15/2 ), 1.8 μm (Tm 3+ : 3 F 4 → 3 H 6 ) and 2.7 μm (Er 3+ : 4 I 11/2 → 4 I 13/2 ) near/mid‐infrared (NIR/MIR) emissions are potentially important in military, communication, medical and atmosphere pollution monitoring applications . Yb 3+ has been widely used as a sensitizer in Re ions‐doped materials due to its large absorption and emission cross section, relatively long lifetime and simple energy level scheme .…”

Investigation on Er3+/Ho3+ co-doped silicate glass for ~2µm fiber lasers

“…The Tg of this sample is 520°C. It exhibits higher Tg than tellurites [19] and fluorides [20], thus demonstrates higher laser damage threshold. No crystallization peak appears as the temperature increases to 850°C, indicating the high stability of the sample against crystallization.…”