Elsevier

Journal of Alloys and Compounds

Volume 603, 5 August 2014, Pages 132-135
Journal of Alloys and Compounds

Spectroscopic properties of Er3+-doped antimony oxide glass

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2014.02.008Get rights and content

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  • As a function of Er concentration, glasses corresponding to the 60Sb2O3–20WO3–(19  x) Na2O–1Bi2O3, xEr2O3 formula were prepared. The quantum efficiency shows that this glass could be promised for laser devices.

Abstract

Spectroscopic properties of Er3+ ions have been studied in the 60Sb2O3–20WO3–19Na2O–1Bi2O3 (SWNB) glasses doped with 0.25 and 0.50 mol% Er2O3 respectively. The Judd–Ofelt parameters measured from the absorption spectra have been used to calculate the radiative life-time (τr) and the stimulated emission cross section. The low phonon energy, a reduced quenching effect and a high quantum efficiency of 90% for the 1.53 μm expected laser emission into pumping at 980 nm are in favor of promising material laser application.

Introduction

For years, research for the improvement in the laser technology is expanding. Technology has to evolve to meet the incessant demands in wide range of applications such as basic sciences, medicine, and telecommunications. This work focuses on finding new host matrices for the rare earth ions, as their spectroscopic properties are largely used for making optical amplifiers and solid-state lasers. Among the new materials that have been widely studied in recent years, antimony oxide glasses have attracted large attention for their potential applications, especially in the field of optical amplification in the telecommunication C-band (1530–1560 nm) [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]. This group of glasses appears as one major family of Heavy Metal Oxide Glasses (HMOG). They possess low phonon energy (≈605 cm1) and large optical non-linearity that is correlated to high refractive index [7], good mechanical properties, and better chemical durability than that of fluoride or tellurite glasses. In lanthanide-doped glasses and crystals, phonon energy is the most influential parameter in non-radiative relaxations because multiphonon decay occurs with the smallest number of phonons required to bridge the energy gap between two energy levels. Er-doped antimonite glasses free of silica and phosphorous oxide are expected to minimize the detrimental effect of the non-radiative decay.

The Judd–Ofelt (JO) theory [8], [9] is used to determine the spectroscopic properties and to characterize the local environment of the lanthanide elements in antimony oxide glass. The lack of data on the structure for amorphous materials makes the problem more complex and it is still under discussion [10], [11], [12]. The intensity parameters of J–O can have a considerable influence on the stimulated emission cross-section, fluorescence decay, and hence on the quantum efficiency of the system. These three parameters are the key factors for laser application of rare earth ions in any host matrix. To our knowledge, there are few studies based on the application of J–O theory to Er-doped antimony glasses [13]; but there is much research on the erbium-doped glasses containing Sb2O3 as second former in glass matrices such as antimony–borate [14], [15], antimony–silicate [16] or antimony–phosphate [17].

In this work, we apply the JO theory to Er-doped antimonite glasses. Based on absorption spectrum, the stimulated emission cross section and the fluorescence decay could be determined as a function of doping level, which allows estimating the highest quantum efficiency.

Section snippets

Sample preparation

The composition of the glass samples used in this study is: 60Sb2O3–20WO3–(19  x) Na2O–1Bi2O3, xEr2O3. The selected x values correspond to 0.25 and 0.5 mol% Erbium concentrations. The starting materials used in the preparation of the glass are commercial powders of Sb2O3 (99+%), ACROS ORGANICS, sodium carbonate (99.8 min) and Bi2O4 Prolabo WWR brand. After weighing and mixing, batches of 6 g in weight were melted in silica crucibles at a temperature close to 800 °C, for 10–15 min in air. During the

Judd-Ofelt analysis

Fig. 1 shows the absorption spectrum of two SWNB glasses doped with 0.25 and 0.5 mol% Er2O3. The absorption spectrum consists of seven manifolds at 1530, 976, 798, 654, 544, 522, and 490 nm, corresponding to the absorptions from the ground state 4I15/2 to the excited states 4I13/2, 4I11/2, 4I9/2, 4F9/2, 4S3/2, 2H11/2, 4F7/2, respectively. The change of the bands and the consequent increase of their intensity are clearly seen as Er2O3 content increases. Observing the absorption of the 4I13/2

Conclusions

In Er3+-doped SWNB glass, the Ω intensity parameters, the radiative lifetime, and the branching ratio have been calculated, on the base of the experimental absorption spectrum and the Judd–Ofelt theory. The high Ω2 Judd–Ofelt parameter in these glasses can be connected with the asymmetry of the local structure and the high degree of covalency of the lanthanide–ligand bonds. The emission cross-sections obtained from the Fuchtbauer–Ladenburg and McCumber methods are 1.07 × 10−20 cm2 and 0.82 × 10−20 cm2

Acknowledgment

We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Brian M. Walsh (NASA) for his help.

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