Optimization of Bi2O3–B2O3-based glass phosphor co-doped with Yb3+ and Nd3+ for optical coherence tomography light source

Abstract

We have optimized Yb2O3 concentration, Nd2O3 concentration, and thickness of a Yb3+, Nd3+ co-doped Bi2O3–B2O3-based glass phosphor to achieve a higher output power with a Gaussian-like shaped luminescence for an optical coherence tomography (OCT) light source. A simple model that includes absorption of excitation light, absorption of luminescent light, and luminescence efficiency was used for estimation of the output power. We have estimated from the model that the highest output power was achieved at Yb2O3 concentration of 3%, Nd2O3 concentration of 0.5%, and the thickness of 1.8 mm. This estimation showed a good agreement with the experimental results. For the optimized glass phosphor, we have observed Gaussian-like shaped luminescence, which is important for the OCT light source.