Physical and Luminescence Studies of Er³⁺-Doped into Borate Glass for IR Lighting Application

Abstract

The gadolinium tungsten borate glasses doped with Er³⁺ were prepared by melt quenching technique for study in physical, absorption and luminescence properties. The glass composition (30-x) B₂O₃ − 27.5 Gd₂O₃ − 42.5 WO₃ – x Er₂O₃, where x = 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mol%. The results show that doping Er₂O₃ in higher concentration make the glass density and molar volume increases. The absorption spectra indicate the photon absorbing of Er³⁺ in visible light and near-infrared region. The emission spectra of these glasses have been recorded under 275 nm (Gd³⁺) and 380 nm (Er³⁺) excitation wavelength and it is observed that these glasses show green 550 nm and red 577 nm. NIR photoluminescence under 311 nm (Gd³⁺), 524 nm (Er³⁺) and 978 nm (Er³⁺), excitation was measured of glass in the region 1400–1700 nm. NIR emissions show a peak centered at 1543 nm. The luminescence of an erbium-doped glass was investigated at room temperature. In addition, mechanisms of the luminescence by multiphoton absorption and energy transfer processes are discussed based on the energy-level diagram of Er³⁺ and luminescence spectra. These results benefit for efficient short and conventional-length optical amplifiers and tunable lasers.

Keywords:

• Borate glass
• erbium
• luminescence

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University and Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University for supporting this research. Thanks are also due to National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) for supporting this research. This research work was partially supported by Chiang Mai University.