Nd3+-doped TeO2–MoO3–ZnO tellurite glass for a diode-pump 1.06 μm laser

Abstract

Nd3+-doped TeO2–MoO3–ZnO (TMZ) tellurite glass with excellent glass-forming ability and optical property is explored for laser material applications. The glass-forming region is predicted via the “thermodynamic method” and then confirmed by some few sets of experiment. The fundamental characteristics of the TMZ glass such as glass structure, optical and spectroscopic properties are also investigated in detail by Raman, absorption, emission spectra and fluorescence decay curves. Interestingly, the vitrification, thermal and optical property of the present glass is significantly improved with the addition of MoO3. Furthermore, the TMZ glass has a higher emission cross section (3.12 × 10−20 cm2) and spectroscopic figure of merit (6.01 × 10−24 s·cm2) for the Nd3+: 4F3/2 → 4I11/2 transition. All results indicate the potential applications of the TMZ glass in laser materials.