Green and red upconversion luminescence in ytterbium-sensitized erbrium-doped novel lead-free germanium bismuth lanthanum glass

Structural and infrared-to-visible upconversion fluorescence properties in ytterbium-sensitized erbrium-doped novel lead-free germanium bismuth-lanthanum glass have been studied. The structure of lead-free germanium-bismuth-lanthanum glass was investigated by peak-deconvolution of Raman spectrum, and the structural information was obtained from the peak wavenumbers. Intense green and red emissions centered at 525, 546, and 657 nm, corresponding to the transitions 2H(11/2) -> I-4(15/2), S-4(3/2) -> I-4(15/2), and F-4(9/2) -> I-4(15/2), respectively, were observed at room temperature. The quadratic dependence of the 525, 546, and 657 nm emissions on excitation power indicates that a two-photon absorption process occurs under 975 nm excitation. This novel lead-free germanium-bismuth-lanthanum glass with low maximum phonon energy (similar to 751 cm(-1)) can be used as potential host material for upconversion lasers. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Comparative investigation of up-conversion luminescence in Tm3+-doped oxide-chloride germanate and tellurite glasses

Tm3+-doped oxide-chloride germanate and tellurite glasses have been synthesized by conventional melting method. Intense up-conversion luminescence emissions were simultaneously observed at room temperature in these glasses. The possible up-conversion mechanisms are discussed and estimated. However, in these Tm3+-doped glasses, tellurite glass showed weaker up-conversion emissions than germanate glass, which is inconsistent with the prediction from the difference of maximum phonon energy between tellurite and germanate glasses. In this paper, Raman spectroscopy was employed to investigate the origin of the difference in up-conversion luminescence in the two glasses. Our results confirm that, besides the maximum phonon energy, the phonon density of host glasses is also an important factor in determining the up-conversion efficiency. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Up-conversion luminescence analysis in ytterbium-sensitized erbium-doped oxide-halide tellurite and germanate-niobic-lead glasses

Ytterbium-sensitized erbium-doped oxide-halide tellurite and germanate-niobic-lead glasses have been synthesized by conventional melting method. Intense green and red emissions centered at 525, 546 and 657 nm, corresponding to the transitions H-2(11/2) -> I-4(15/2), S-4(3/2) -> I-4(15/2) and F-4(9/2) -> I-4(15/2), respectively, were simultaneously observed at room temperature in these glasses. The quadratic dependence of the 525, 546 and 657 nm emissions on excitation power indicates that a two-photon absorption process occurs. Tellurite glass showed a weaker up-conversion emission than germanate-niobic-lead glass, which is inconsistent with the prediction from the difference of maximum phonon energy between tellurite and germanate-mobic-lead glasses. In this paper, Raman spectroscopy was employed to investigate the origin of the difference in up-conversion luminescence in the two glasses. Compared with phonon side-band spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy extracts more information including both phonon energy and phonon density. Our results reveal that the phonon density and the maximum phonon energy of host glasses are both important factors in determining the up-conversion efficiency. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Intense upconversion luminescence in ytterbium-sensitized thullum-doped oxychloride germanate glass

Structural and upconversion fluorescence properties in ytterbium-sensitized thulium-doped oxychloride germanate glass have been studied. The structure of oxychloride germanate glass was investigated by peak-deconvolution of Raman spectrum, and the structural information was obtained from the peak wavenumbers. The Raman spectrum investigation indicates that PbCl2 plays an important role in the formation of glass network, and has an important influence on the upconversion luminescence. Intense blue and weak red emissions centered at 477 and 650 nm, corresponding to the transitions (1)G(4) ->(3) H-6 and (1)G ->H-3(4), respectively, were observed at room temperature. The possible upconversion mechanisms are discussed and estimated. Intense upconversion luminescence indicates that oxychloride germanate glass can be used as potential host material for upconversion lasers. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of various alkaline-earth metal oxides on the broadband infrared luminescence from bismuth-doped silicate glasses

We report on the effect of various alkaline-earth metal oxides on the broadband infrared luminescence covering 1000-1600 nm wavelength region from bismuth-doped silicate glasses. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the infrared luminescence and the fluorescent lifetime is more than 200 nm and 400 mu s, respectively. The fluorescent intensity decreases with increasing basicity of host glasses. Besides the broadband infrared luminescence, luminescence centered at 640 nm was also observed, which should be ascribed to Bi2+ rather than to the familiar Bi3+. We suggest that the infrared luminescence should be assigned to the X-2 (2)Pi (3/2) -> X-1 (2)Pi(1/2) transition of BiO molecules dispersed in the host glasses. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Upconversion luminescence of Ce3+ doped BK7 glass by femtosecond laser irradiation

Near-infrared to visible upconversion luminescence was observed in a multicomponent silicate (BK7) glass containing Ce3+ ions under focused infrared femtosecond laser irradiation. The emission spectra show that the upconversion luminescence comes from the 4f-5d transition of the Ce3+ ions. The relationship between the intensity of the Ce3+ emission and the pump power reveals that a three-photon absorption predominates in the conversion process from the near-infrared into the blue luminescence. The analysis of the upconversion mechanism suggests that the upconversion luminescence may come from a three-photon simultaneous absorption that leads to a population of the 5d level in which the characteristic luminescence occurs.

Enhanced broadband near-infrared luminescence and optical amplification in Yb-Bi codoped phosphate glasses

Yb-Bi codoped phosphate glass was prepared and its properties were compared with Bi-doped phosphate glass. The broadband infrared luminescence intensity from Yb-Bi codoped glass was similar to 32 times stronger than that of Bi-doped glass. The single-pass optical amplification was measured on a traditional two-wave mixing configuration. No optical amplification was observed in Bi-doped glass, while apparent broadband optical amplification between 1272 and 1336 nm was observed from Yb-Bi codoped glass with 980 nm laser diode excitation. The highest gain coefficient at 1272 nm of Yb-Bi codoped glass reached to 2.62 cm(-1). Yb-Bi codoped phosphate glass is a promising material for broadband optical amplification. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Enhanced broadband near-infrared luminescence from transparent Yb 3+/Ni2+ codoped silicate glass ceramics

The near-infrared emission intensity of Ni2+ in Yb3+/Ni2+ codoped transparent MgO-Al2O3-Ga2O3-SiO2-TiO2 glass ceramics could be enhanced up to 4.4 times via energy transfer from Yb3+ to Ni2+ in nanocrystals. The best Yb2O3 concentration was about 1.00 mol%. For the Yb3+/Ni2+ codoped glass ceramic with 1.00 mol% Yb2O3, a broadband near-infrared emission centered at 1265 nm with full width at half maximum of about 300 nm and lifetime of about 220 mu s was observed. The energy transfer mechanism was also discussed. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.

Enhanced broadband near-infrared luminescence in transparent silicate glass ceramics containing Yb3+ ions and Ni2+-doped Li Ga5 O8 nanocrystals

Spectral properties of Yb3+/Ni2+ codoped transparent silicate glass ceramics containing LiGa5O8 nanocrystals were investigated. The near-infrared emission intensity of Ni2+ was largely increased with Yb3+ codoping due to Yb3+-> Ni2+ energy transfer. The qualitative calculation of the energy transfer constant Cs-a and rate Ps-a showed that the Yb3+-> Ni2+ energy transfer was much greater than in the opposite direction. Yb3+/Ni2+ codoped glass ceramics with 0.75 mol % Yb2O3 exhibited a near-infrared emission with full width at half maximum of 290 nm and fluorescent lifetime of 920 mu s. The glass ceramics are promising for broadband optical amplification.

Enhanced luminescence from transparent Ni2+-doped MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 glass ceramics by Ga2O3 addition

Transparent Ni2+-doped MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 glass ceramics without and with Ga2O3 were synthetized. The precipitation of spinel nanocrystals, which was identified as solid solutions in the glass ceramics, could be favored by Ga2O3 addition and their sizes were about 7.6 nm in diameter. The luminescent intensity of the Ni2+-doped glass ceramics was largely enhanced by Ga2O3 addition which could mainly be caused by increasing of Ni2+ in the octahedral sites and the reduction of the mean frequency of phonon density of states in the spinel nanocrystals of solid solutions. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of emissions for the glass ceramics with different Ga2O3 content was all more than 200 nm. The emission lifetime increased with the Ga2O3 content and the longest lifetime is about 250 mu s. The Ni2+-doped transparent glass ceramics with Ga2O3 addition have potential application as broadband optical amplifier and laser materials. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inhomogeneous broadening, luminescence origin and optical amplification in bismuth-doped glass

Absorption and luminescence spectra and optical amplification in bismuth-doped germanate silicate glass were investigated. Two kinds of bismuth ion valence states could exist in the glass. One is Bi2+, which has shown red luminescence, another might be Bi+, which is the active center for infrared luminescence. The infrared luminescence excited at 700, 800, and 980 nm should be ascribed to the electronic transition P-3(1) --> P-3(0) of Bi+ ions in three distinct sites. The shifting, broadening, and multiple configuration of the luminescence could be due to the randomly disorder of local environment and multiple sites of the active centers. In this glass, obvious optical amplification was realized at 1300 nm wavelength when excited at 808 and 980 nm, respectively.

Multicolor luminescence in oxygen-deficient Tb3+;doped calcium aluminogermanate glasses

In this paper, we report on the multicolor luminescence in oxygen-deficient Tb3+-doped calcium aluminogermanate glasses. A simple method was proposed to control oxygen-deficient defects in glasses by adding metal Al instead of the corresponding oxide (Al2O3), resulting in efficient blue and red emissions from Tb3+-undoped glasses with 300 and 380 nm excitation wavelengths, respectively. Moreover, in Tb3+-doped oxygen-deficient glasses, bright three-color (sky-blue, green or yellow, and red) luminescence was observed with 300, 380, and 395 nm excitation wavelengths, respectively. These glasses are useful for the fabrication of white light-emitting diode (LED) lighting.

Three-photon-excited upconversion luminescence of niobium ions doped silicate glass by a femtosecond laser irradiation

We report on the bluish green upconversion luminescence of niobium ions doped silicate glass by a femtosecond laser irradiation. The dependence of the fluorescence intensity on the pump power density of laser indicates that the conversion of infrared irradiation to visible emission is dominated by three-photon excitation process. We suggest that the charge transfer from O-2-to Nb5+ can efficiently contribute to the bluish green emission. The results indicate that transition metal ions without d electrons play an important role in fields of optics when embedded into silicate glass matrix. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.

Luminescence properties of bismuth-doped lime silicate glasses

Luminescences from bismuth-doped lime silicate glasses were investigated. Luminescences centered at about 400, 650, and 1300 nm were observed, excited at 280, 532 and 808 nm, respectively. These three luminescence bands arise from three different kinds of bismuth ions in the glasses. The visible luminescences centered at 400 and 650 nm arise from Bi3+, and Bi2+, respectively. The infrared luminescences cover the wavelength range from 1000 to 1600 nm when exited by an 808 nm laser diode. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the infrared luminescences is more than 205 urn. The intensity of the infrared luminescence decreases with the increment in CaO content. We suggest that the infrared luminescences might arise from Bi+. Such broadband luminescences indicate that the glasses may be potential candidate material for broadband fiber amplifiers and tunable lasers. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Broadband infrared luminescence from bismuth-doped GeS2-Ga2S3 chalcogenide glasses

Near-infrared luminescence is observed from bismuth-doped GeS2-Ga2S3 chalcogenide glasses excited by an 808 nm laser diode. The emission peak with a maximum at about 1260 nm is observed in 80GeS(2)-20Ga(2)S(3):0.5Bi glass and it shifts toward the long wavelength with the addition of Bi gradually. The full width of half maximum (FWHM) is about 200 nm. The broadband infrared luminescence of Bi-doped GeS2-Ga2S3 chalcogenide glasses may be predominantly originated from the low valence state of Bi, such as Bi+. Raman scattering is also conducted to clarify the structure of glasses. These Bi-doped GeS2-Ga2S3 chalcogenide glasses can be applied potentially in novel broadband optical fibre amplifiers and broadly tunable laser in optical communication system.