Near-Infrared Luminescence and Single-Mode Laser Emission From Nd3+ Doped Compound Glass and Glass Microsphere

In this letter, an Nd3+-doped compound fluorosilicate glass was successfully fabricated with the method of melt-quenching. Under the excitation of a 808 nm laser, enhanced near-infrared photoluminescence emission at the range from 1,065 to 1,140 nm was observed in the glass sample. To characterize its stability and resistance to environmental effects, transmission spectra at the range of NIR-MIR were measured under different environments, including humidity and temperature. In addition, the obtained fluorosilicate glass was also developed as a microsphere resonator by using CO2 laser heating method. When the diameter of the microsphere was controlled at 61.5 mu m, coupling with a tapered fiber, single-multimode lasing in the wavelength range lambda 1,056-1,071 nm was achieved with a low lasing threshold of 1.5 mW. Compared to silica and phosphate glasses, this fluorosilicate glasses have lower phonon energy, which can reduce the probability of non-radiative transitions and improve the photoluminescence efficiency. Therefore, using it as the raw material, the developed microsphere resonator offers a high transition temperature and with a low lasing threshold, which are promising it for high performance sensing and detection applications.