Judd-Ofelt and McCumber Studies of Er3+ Ions Doped in Lanthanum Borate Glass for Visible and NIR Lighting Application

Abstract

The lanthanum borate glasses doped with Er3+ were prepared by the melt-quenching technique to study the physical and luminescence properties. The glass composition in this study is 27.5La2O3-(72.5-x)B2O3-xEr2O3, where x = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 mol%. The results showed that the doping of Er2O3 ions with more concentration increased glass density, molar volume, and refractive index. Absorbed photons with 388 nm can excite the glass samples to release the strongest emission at 530 nm wavelength. The suitable concentration of adding Er3+ ions into La2O3-B2O3 glass showed strongest light emission at 5 mol% concentration of Er2O3. NIR luminescence spectra was studied under 978 nm excitation wavelength of Er3+ doped La2O3-B2O3 glass. NIR emission peak was centered at 1544 nm. The Judd-Ofelt (JO) Ωλ (λ = 2, 4, and 6) parameters were calculated to explore the nature of environment surrounding the Er3+ ions. Absorption and stimulated emission cross-sections have been evaluated by applying Mc Cumber theory, the resulting value is 8.25 × 10−21 cm2. This research is beneficial for use as a NIR laser media in solid state emitting wavelength at 1544 nm. The optical gain G(λ) properties have been derived from the σabs and σemi values that the gain is positive for 40% population inversion in the 1400-1700 nm wavelength range.