Analysis of Optical and Near-Infrared Luminescence of Er3+ and Er3+/Yb3+ Co-Doped Heavy Metal Borate Glasses for Optical Amplifier Applications

Abstract

For the near-infrared emission, Er3+ and Er3+/Yb3+ co-activated borate based glass hosts were synthesized by the method of melting andquenching. The emission intensity was maximum for 0.5 mol% Er3+ singly activated glass in the near-infrared (NIR) region covering the telecommunication window. The 2 mol% of Yb3+ co-doping enhanced the emission gain cross-section of the glass by two times contrast to 0.5 mol% Er3+ loaded glass. This enhancement shifted to lower spectral regions when P increased from 0 to 1. The effect of Yb3+ loading on the gain cross-section of the Er3+ co-activated glasses was analyzed using the McCumber theory. The results showed that the 0.5Er2Yb glass has a flat gain in the range of 1460–1640 nm, this suggest a lower pump threshold is enough to perform the laser functioning of a 1530 nm band and optical window of telecommunication applications.