Role of PbO substitution by Bi2O3 on 1.47 μm luminescence properties of Tm3+/Tb3+-doped Bi2O3-GeO2-Ga2O3 glass

Spectroscopic properties and energy transfer (ET) in Bi2O3(PbO)-GeO2-Ga2O3 (BPGG) glass doped with Tm3+ and/or Tb3+ have been investigated. It is noted that the Tm3+ single-doped BPGG glass exhibits broad 1.47-mu m fluorescence peaked at 1465 nm with a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of similar to 134 nm. The incorporation of Tb3+ into Tm3+-doped BPGG glass could significantly decrease the 1.80 mu m emission intensity and enhance the intensity ratio of 1.47-mu m to 1.80-mu m (I-1.47/I-1.80), which reveals that Tb3+ ion can be considered to be an effective sensitizer ion on improving the 1.47-mu m emission. The products of FWHM x sigma(peak)(e) and tau(f) x sigma(peak)(e) for the 1.47-mu m fluorescence are in the range of 5.66-6.63 x 10(-26) cm(3) and 8.76-10.02 x 10(-25) cm(2) s. Effects of Bi2O3 substitution for PbO on spectroscopic properties, such as 1.47-mu m emission of Tm3+, Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters Omega(t) (t = 2, 4, 6), and the lifetime of the H-3(4) level of Tm3+, have also been investigated. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.