Efficient UV-visible emission enabled by 532 nm CW excitation in an Ho3+-doped ZBLAN fiber.

Abstract

Rare-earth-doped ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF) fibers have evolved to become promising candidates for efficient UV-visible emission because of their low phonon energy and low optical losses, as well as their well-defined absorption bands. We investigate the efficient emission of UV-visible light in a low-concentration (0.1 mol%) Ho3+-doped ZBLAN fiber excited by a 532 nm CW laser. In addition to the direct populating of the thermalized 5F4+5S2 levels by ground-state absorption, the upconversion processes responsible for UV-visible emission from the higher emitting levels, 3P1+3D3, 3K7+5G4, 5G5, and 5F3, of the Ho3+ ions are examined using excited-state absorption. The dependence of UV-visible fluorescence intensity on launched green pump power is experimentally determined, confirming the one-photon and two-photon characters of the observed processes. We theoretically investigate the excitation power dependence of the population density for nine Ho3+ levels based on a rate equation model. This qualitative model has shown a good agreement with the measured power dependence of UV-visible emission. Moreover, the emission cross-sections for blue, green, red, and deep-red light in the visible region are measured using the Füchtbauer-Ladenburg method and corroborated by McCumber theory, and the corresponding gain coefficients are derived. We propose an alternative approach to achieve efficient UV-visible emission in an Ho3+-doped ZBLAN fiber using a cost-effective, high-brightness 532 nm laser.