1.53 μm luminescent properties of Er3+-doped fluoroaluminate glasses

The Er3+ doped fluomaluminate glasses were prepared by melt quenching technique and characterized through spectroscopic methods. The concentration of erbium ions was 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 mol %. Luminescence spectra with a maximum of about 1.53 mu m were obtained with excitation at a wavelength of 975 nm. Based on measurements in the integral sphere, it was found that with an increase in the concentration of erbium ions, the intensity of the luminescence band increases. The absorption (I-4(15/2) -> I-4(13/2)) and emission (I-4(13/2) -> I-4(15/2)) cross-sections were calculated using McCumber theory. The peak value of emission cross-section was 5.30 x 10(-21) cm(2) and the gain bandwidth value was 243 x 10(-28) cm(2). The calculated gain/loss spectra at different population inversion values suggest that, the fluoroaluminate glasses possess amplification in C and L spectral bands starting from 45% population inversion. The obtained results reveal that glasses of investigated composition are candidates for optical fiber amplifiers and laser sources operated at 1.5 mu m.