Up-Conversion Luminescence and C-Band Laser in Er3+-Doped Fluorozirconate Glass Microsphere Resonator

Haiyan Zhao,Shijie Jia,Elfed Lewis,Yaxian Fan,Wenhao Li,Angzhen Li,Xin Wang,Shunbin Wang,Ruicong Wang,Pengfei Wang

doi:10.1109/jphot.2019.2940492

Haiyan Zhao, Shijie Jia + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/jphot.2019.2940492

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Abstract

Up-conversion luminescence and C-band microsphere laser output is reported for an Er3+-doped ZrF4-BaF2-YF3-AlF3 (ZBYA) fluorozirconate glass microsphere. The microsphere was fabricated by heating a ZBYA glass filament using a CO2 laser beam. The fabrication process accurately and repeatably produces microspheres of 68 μm diameter. The input and output laser light was coupled to the microsphere using a tapered optical fiber. The coupling position between the tapered fiber and microsphere was adjusted using a sophisticated three-dimensional translation stage. The up-conversion luminescence emission, single-mode and multi-mode laser at C-band (1530 to 1565 nm) were observed when pumped using a 980 nm laser.

Highlights

In recent years, microcavity resonators have become attractive for fundamental research especially in lasers physics, including microdisks [1], microrods [2] and microspheres [3] etc
ZBYA glass has been chosen as the material to fabricate the microsphere in the investigation described in this article and to provide the Er3+ doped C-band laser output
From the transmission spectrum of the 0.1 mol% Er3+-doped ZBYA glass sample, one can see that the transmittance of ZBYA glass covers the ultraviolet, visible and mid-infrared wavelength bands, and the upper infrared cutoff wavelength is around λ ∼ 9000 nm

Summary

Introduction

Microcavity resonators have become attractive for fundamental research especially in lasers physics, including microdisks [1], microrods [2] and microspheres [3] etc. As early as 2000, Er3+-doped microsphere lasers were fabricated in ZBLAN glass and these operated at a wavelength of 1.56 μm [23]. ZBYA glass has been chosen as the material to fabricate the microsphere in the investigation described in this article and to provide the Er3+ doped C-band laser output. A Tm3+-doped ZBYA glass microsphere laser operating in the 2.0 μm wavelength region was initially reported by some of the authors of this article early in 2019 [29]. In this investigation, Er3+-doped ZBYA glass samples have been successfully fabricated and their transmission and fluorescence emission spectra have been measured. The visible (green) up-conversion luminescence spectrum in the microsphere has been observed and the intensity shows an increasing trend with increasing pump power

Experimental Details

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Conclusions