Investigation on origin of broadband infrared emission in Bi doped aluminosilicate glasses

Abstract

Broad infrared emissions at 1131, 1107 and 1291 nm were observed in the bismuth doped aluminosilicate glasses under 532, 690 and 808 nm excitation respectively. The origin of the broadband infrared luminescence was investigated in the aluminosilicate glasses. Based on the energy matching conditions, it is suggested that the infrared luminescence centres might be Bi¹⁺ ions and BiO molecules. The broadband infrared luminescent characteristics of the glasses indicate that they are promising for broadband optical fibre amplifiers and tunable lasers.

Keywords:

• Bismuth doped aluminosilicate glass
• Optical properties
• Infrared luminescence

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 51002068), the Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province (grant no. 2010ZC038), and the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China (grant no. 20110491759).