Effect of biphasic-phase on the mid-infrared emission properties of Pr3+doped GeSe2-Ga2Se3 chalcogenide glass ceramics

Mid-infrared (MIR) laser operating at 2-5 mu m has gained increasing interest because of the extensive applications in fields from biomedicine, sensing to nanomaterial science. Chalcogenide glass (ChG) is a kind of matrix that is promising for MIR laser due to its low phonon energy and wide infrared transmittance region. However, sig-nificant challenges in the enhancement of MIR optical properties of rare-earth ion-doped ChGs still exist. Here, enhanced MIR emission was realized in Pr3+-doped chalcogenide glass ceramics (ChGCs). By controlling the heat treatment temperature and duration, biphasic-phase nanocrystals of Ga2Se3 and GeSe(2 )were successively precipitated in the glass host. Compared to the as-prepared glass, the GCs exhibit an obvious increase in emission intensity by more than 5 times. The improvement of the MIR emission may be induced by the enhanced cross -relaxation between Pr(3+ )ions and the increased multiple scattering effects. Furthermore, the obtained ChGC enables large stimulated emission cross section 0.42 x 10(-20) cm(2 )at 2.44 mu m and 0.62 x 10(-20 )cm(2) at 4.75 mu m. The superior optical properties of the ChGC indicate that it is an attractive candidate for MIR laser.