Investigations on valence-change behaviors of europium ions in Eu-doped aluminate and silicate phosphors

Compounds of Sr3Al2O6: Eu, Sr4Al14O25: Eu, and BaZnSiO4: Eu were synthesized by high-temperature solid state reactions. The doping Eu3+ ions were partially reduced to Eu2+ in Sr4Al14O25: Eu and BaZnSiO4: Eu prepared in an oxidizing atmosphere, N-2 + O-2. However, such an abnormal reduction process could not be performed in Sr3Al2O6: Eu, which was also prepared in an atmosphere of N-2 + O-2. Moreover, even though Sr3Al2O6: Eu was synthesized in a reducing condition CO, only part of the Eu3+ ions was reduced to Eu2+. The existence of trivalent and divalent europium ions was confirmed by photoluminescent spectra. The different valence-change behaviors of europium ions in the hosts were attributed to the difference in host crystal structures. The higher the crystal structure stiffness, the easier the reduction process from Eu3+ to Eu2+.

Spectroscopic properties and thermal stability of Er3+/Yb3+-codoped fluorophosphate glasses

A comprehensive study on the thermal stability and spectroscopic properties of Er3+/Yb3+-codoped Al(PO3)(3)-based fluorophosphate glasses is reported of the 1.5μ m fibre amplifiers in this paper. From optical absorption spectra, the Judd-Ofelt parameters of Er3+ in the glasses and several important optical properties, such as the radiative transition probability, the branching ratio and the spontaneous emission probability, have been calculated by using Judd-Ofelt theory. The fluorophosphate glass exhibits broadband near-infrared emission at 1.53μ m with a full width at half-maximum over 63nm, and a large calculated stimulated-emission cross-section of 6.85 x 10(-21)cm(2).

Effect of alkali and alkaline earth fluoride introduction on thermal stability and structure of fluorophosphate glasses

The thermal stability and structure of RF-RF2-AIF(3)-Al(PO3)(3) fluorophosphate glasses were investigated. Analyses of infrared absorbance spectra and Raman spectra reveal that with increasing number of alkali and alkaline earth fluoride components, the sum of P-O-P bond and O-P-O bond increases and glass network is strengthened. Consequently, the inhibition to nucleation and crystallization processes is improved, which is proved by the increment of thermal stability factors AT and S determined by differential scanning calorimetry. In addition, it was found that LiF has poor ability to form glass in univalent alkali fluorides and MgF2 has comparative strong ability to form glass in bivalent alkaline earth fluorides. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Effect of CdF2 addition on thermal stability and upconversion luminescence properties in Tm3+-Yb3+ codoped oxyfluoride silicate glasses

Tm3+-Yb3+ codoped oxyfluoride silicate glasses suitable for upconversion laser has been fabricated. In this paper, effect of CdF2 addition on thermal stability and upconversion luminescence properties in Tm3+-Yb3+ codoped oxyfluoride silicate glasses have been systematically investigated. The experimental results indicate that, with the substitution CdF2 for PbF2, the glass thermal stability increases and the UV cutoff edge moves to short-wave band slightly. With increasing CdF2 content, the blue and red upconversion luminescence intensity increases slightly at first, and then increases rapidly. While the near infrared (NIR) upconversion emission intensity increases notably at first and then increases slightly. However, the blue and NIR luminescence intensity are much stronger than that of red, indicating these oxyfluoride silicate glasses are more preferable for blue and NIR emissions than red emission. The possible upconversion mechanisms for the blue, red and NIR fluorescence are also estimated and evaluated. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparative investigation of up-conversion luminescence in Tm3+/Yb3+-codoped germanate-niobic and germanium-bismuth glasses: effect of phonon density on up-conversion emission

Tm3+/Yb3+-codoped gernianate-niobic (GN) and germanium-bismuth (GB) glasses have been synthesized by conventional ruching and quenching method. Intense blue and weak red emissions centered at 477 and 650 nm, corresponding to the transitions (1)G(4)->H-3(6) and (1)G(4)->H-3(4), respectively, were observed at room temperature. The possible Up-conversion mechanisms are discussed and estimated. GN glass showed a weaker up-conversion emission than GB glass, which is inconsistent with the prediction from the difference of maximum phonon energy between GN and GB 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. For the first time, our results reveal 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.

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.

Effect of lithium-sodium mixed-alkali on phase transformation kinetics in Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped aluminophosphate glasses

Er3+ doped aluminophosphate glasses with various Na2O/Li2O ratios were prepared at 1250 degrees C using a silica crucible to study mixed alkali effect (MAE). The effect of relative alkali content on glass transition temperature, crystallization temperature and thermal stability were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In addition, apparent activation energies for crystallization, E, were determined employing the Kissinger equation. The effect of Al2O3 content on the magnitude of MAE was also discussed. No mixed-alkali effect is observed on crystallization temperature. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. 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.

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.

Effects of Yb ion concentration on the spectral properties of lead silica glasses

The spectral properties in different concentration of Yb ions (0.5-5 mol%)-doped silica glasses are explored in this paper. The glasses are prepared by traditional melting method. The absorption spectra and the fluorescent lifetime (tau(f)) are measured at room temperature and low temperature (18 K). The stimulated cross-section (sigma(emi)) and potential laser properties (beta(min), I-sat, I-min) are calculated based on the absorption spectra. The absorption cross-section (sigma(abs)) are in the range 1.08 x 10(-20) - 1.18 x 10(-20) cm(2) in different glasses, the fluorescence lifetime (tau(f)) change from 1.9 to 1.2 ms with the increase of Yb3+ concentration. The potential laser properties indicate that lead silica glass is a good host for highly Yb ion doping glass. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The influence of OH groups on laser performance in phosphate glasses

Because of the influence of OH groups in phosphate glasses on the radiation of rare-earth ions, the laser performance is degraded. The laser efficiency and the small signal gain experiment of several phosphate glass samples have been done, the concentration of OH groups in glasses was calculated from the measured absorption coefficient at 3.47 μm. It is shown that the concentration of OH groups in phosphate glasses can seriously influence the laser output characteristics, and the OH groups have worse influence on the laser amplifier than laser oscillator.

UV-blue upconverted emission from Nd3+-doped InF3-based heavy-metal fluoride glasses for blue upconversion fibre laser

We report spectral properties and thermal stability of Nd3+-doped InF3-based heavy-metal fluoride glasses. Fluoroindate glasses in the chemical compositions (in mol%) of (38-x)InF3-16BaF(2)-20ZnF(2)-20SrF(2)-3GdF(3)-1GaF(3-)2NaF-xNdF(3) (x = 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 3) have been prepared under a controlled atmosphere in a dry box. Strong UVblue upconversion emission from a green excitation wavelength has been observed and the involved mechanisms have been explained. Near-infrared emission occurs simultaneously upon excitation of the UV-blue upconversion emissions with a cw Ar(+)laser. The upconversion spectra have revealed four dominant emissions at 354, 380, 412 and 449 nm, which belong to the transitions of D-4(3/2) -> I-4(9/2), D-4(3/2) -> I-4(11/2) and P-2(3/2) -> I-4(9/2), D-4(3/2) -> I-4(13/2) and P-2(3/2) -> I-4(11/2), D-4(3/2) -> I-4(15/2) and P-2(3/2) -> I-4(13/2), respectively.

Fluorescence lifetime increase by introduction of F- ions in ytterbium-doped TeO2-based glasses

this paper was retracted

Spectroscopic properties of Er3+ doped TeO2-BaO (Li2O, Na2O)-La2O3 glasses for 1.5-mu m optical amplifiers

This paper reports on the optical spectroscopic properties and thermal stability of Er3+-doped TeO2-BaO (Li2O,NaO)-La2O3 glasses for developing 1.5-mu m fiber amplifiers. Upon excitation at 977 nm laser diode, an intense 1.53-mu m infrared fluorescence has been observed with a broad full width at half maximum (FWHM) of about 60 nm for the Er3+-doped TeO2-BaO (Li2O, Na2O)-La2O3 glass with 10 mol% of BaO. The calculated fluorescence lifetime and the emission cross-sections of the 1.53-mu m transition are 2.91 ms and similar to 9.97 x 10(-21) cm(2), respectively. It is noted that the gain bandwidth, a, x FWHM, of the TeO2-BaO-La2O3Er2O3 glass is about 600, which is significantly higher than that in silicate and phosphate glasses. Meanwhile, it is interesting to note that the TeO2-BaO-La2O3-Er2O3 glass has shown a high glass thermal stability and good infrared transmittance. As a result, TeO2-BaO (Li2O, Na2O)-La2O3 glass with 10 mol% of BaO has been considered to be more useful as a host for broadband optical fiber amplifier. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.