Study of luminescence properties of novel Er 3+ single-doped and Er 3+/Yb 3+ co-doped tellurite glasses

Abstract

The novel Er 3+ single-doped and Er 3+/Yb 3+ co-doped tellurite glasses were prepared. The effect of Yb 2O 3 concentration on absorption spectra, emission spectra and upconversion spectra of glasses were measured and investigated. The emission intensity, fluorescence full width at half maximum (FWHM) and upconversion luminescence of Er 3+ go up with the increasing concentration of Yb 3+ ions. The maximum FWHM of 4I 13/2 → 4I 15/2 transition of Er 3+ is approximate 77 nm for 1.41 × 10 21 ions/cm 3 concentration of Yb 3+-doped glass. The visible upconversion emissions at about 532, 546 and 659 nm, corresponding to the 2H 11/2 → 4I 15/2, 4S 3/2 → 4I 15/2 and 4F 9/2 → 4I 15/2 transitions of Er 3+, respectively, were simultaneously observed under the excitation at 970 nm. Subsequently, the possible upconversion mechanisms and important role of Yb 3+ on the green and red emissions were discussed and compared. The results demonstrate that this kind of tellurite glass may be a potentially useful material for developing potential amplifiers and upconversion optical devices.