High performance of near-infrared emission for S-band amplifier from Tm3+-doped bismuth glass incorporated with Ag nanoparticles

Abstract

The significant enhancements of Tm3+:1.47 μm fluorescence intensity in silver nanoparticles embedded bismuth glass is observed. A novel series of glass system with the composition of 60Bi2O3–20SiO2- 20Ga2O3–1Tm2O3-xAgNO3 (where x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.2, 1.5, 1.7 and 2.0 mol%) were prepared by the melt-quenching method and subsequent in-situ thermal-reduction technology. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated the amorphous nature of as-made glass. Transmission electron microscopy image confirmed the homogeneous dispersion of silver nanoparticles with 7.5 nm average diameter in glass. According to the absorption spectra, the local surface plasmon resonance band locates around 477–570 nm and shifts towards the longer wavelength with the increasing silver content. Under excitation of a 800 nm laser diode, the 1.47 μm emission intensity undergoes significant enhancements by as much as 6 times, which is mainly attributed to the intensified local electric field of silver nanoparticles. Large magnitude of full-width at half-maximum, emission cross section, figure of merit of the 1.47 μm emission are calculated to be 128 nm, 4.8 × 10−21 cm2 and 6.14 × 10−26 cm3, respectively. These results indicate that the present glass is a promising gain medium for S-band optical amplifiers.