Study of visible, NIR, and MIR spectroscopic properties of Er3+-doped tellurite glasses and glass-ceramics

In this paper, the structural, thermal, optical, and spectroscopic properties of Er3+-doped tellurite glasses with the composition 68.25TeO(2)-19.5ZnO-9.75X-2.5Er(2)O(3) (in mol%) with X = BaO, Na2O, and Bi2O3 are reported. The glasses were prepared using the standard melt quenching method. The investigated glasses exhibit low phonon energy (similar to 745 cm(-1)) and low glass transition temperature varying between 300 and 350 degrees C depending on the glass composition. The Raman spectra show a regular tellurite structure with variations in the number of bridging and non-bridging oxygens depending on the glass composition, the Na2O and Bi2O3-containing glasses having the most and the least polymerized network, respectively. A thermal treatment of the glasses leads to the formation of crystals, the composition of which depends on the glass composition, as revealed by X-ray diffraction analysis and confirmed using scanning electron microscope-energy-dispersive spectroscopy. The precipitation of Er-containing crystals in the Na2O and BaO-containing glasses leads to an increase in the intensity of the upconversion emissions. Although the Er3+ ions remain in the amorphous part of the Bi2O3-containing glass after heat treatment, it is the precipitation of Bi3.2Te0.8O6.4 crystals in this glass, which is thought to decrease the distance between the Er3+ ions leading to an increase in the intensity of the upconversion and mid-infrared emissions.