Highly efficient mid-infrared 2 μm emission in Ho/Yb-codoped germanate glass

This work reports the mid-infrared emission properties around 2 μm in Ho/Yb codoped germanate glasses. The glass not only possesses good chemical durability and good thermal stability but also has high midinfrared transmittance around 2 μm (90%). In addition, the glass possesses considerably low OH content (20.45 ppm) and large spontaneous transition probability (103.38 s) corresponding to the Ho:I7→I8 transition. Moreover, the measured lifetime of Ho:I7 level is as high as 7.68 ms, and the quantum efficiency at 2 μm can reach 79.4%. The energy transfer processes of Yb:F5/2 level and Ho:I6 level were quantitatively analyzed according to the rate equation. Results indicate that the prepared germanate glass is a promising candidate for 2 μm mid-infrared laser materials applications. ©2015 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (160.5690) Rare-earth-doped materials; (250.5230) Photoluminescence; (260.2160) Energy transfer; (300.6340) Spectroscopy, infrared. References and links 1. D. Faucher, M. Bernier, G. Androz, N. Caron, and R. Vallée, “20 W passively cooled single-mode all-fiber laser at 2.8 μm,” Opt. Lett. 36(7), 1104–1106 (2011). 2. M. C. Pierce, S. D. Jackson, M. R. Dickinson, T. A. King, and P. Sloan, “Laser-tissue interaction with a continuous wave 3-μm fibre laser: Preliminary studies with soft tissue,” Lasers Surg. Med. 26(5), 491–495 (2000). 3. A. Godard, “Infrared (2–12 μm) solid-state laser sources: a review,” C. R. Phys. 8(10), 1100–1128 (2007). 4. T. Hu, D. D. Hudson, B. J. Eggleton, and S. D. Jackson, “A highly-efficient, 2.9 μm Q-switched Ho/Pr co-doped fiber laser,” in Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), 2012 Conference on (2012), pp. 1–2. 5. F. Huang, X. Liu, Y. Zhang, L. Hu, and D. Chen, “Enhanced 2.7and 2.84-μm emissions from diode-pumped Ho3+/Er3+-doped fluoride glass,” Opt. Lett. 39(20), 5917–5920 (2014). 6. R. Xu, J. Pan, L. Hu, and J. Zhang, “2.0 μm emission properties and energy transfer processes of Yb/Ho codoped germanate glass,” J. Appl. Phys. 108(4), 043522 (2010). 7. J. J. Pan, R. R. Xu, Y. Tian, K. F. Li, L. L. Hu, and J. J. Zhang, “2.0 mu m Emission properties of transparent oxyfluoride glass ceramics doped with Yb-Ho ions,” Opt. Mater. 32(11), 1451–1455 (2010). 8. G. Bai, L. Tao, K. Li, L. Hu, and Y. H. Tsang, “Enhanced ~2μm and upconversion emission from Ho–Yb codoped oxyfluoride glass ceramics,” J. Non-Cryst. Solids 361, 13–16 (2013). 9. F. Huang, J. Cheng, X. Liu, L. Hu, and D. Chen, “Ho/Er doped fluoride glass sensitized by Ce pumped by 1550 nm LD for efficient 2.0 μm laser applications,” Opt. Express 22(17), 20924–20935 (2014). 10. A. Hemming, S. Bennetts, N. Simakov, A. Davidson, J. Haub, and A. Carter, “High power operation of cladding pumped holmium-doped silica fibre lasers,” Opt. Express 21(4), 4560–4566 (2013). 11. R. Li, J. Li, L. Shterengas, and S. D. Jackson, “Highly efficient holmium fibre laser diode pumped at 1.94 μm,” Electron. Lett. 47(19), 1089 (2011). 12. W. Qing, G. Jihong, J. Zhuo, L. Tao, and J. Shibin, “Mode-locked Tm-Ho fiber laser with a Sb-based SESAM,” in Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), 2011 Conference on(2011), pp. 1–2. 13. S. D. Jackson, “8.8 W diode-cladding-pumped Tm,Ho-doped fluoride fibre laser,” Electron. Lett. 37(13), 821–822 (2001). 14. F. Fusari, A. A. Lagatsky, G. Jose, S. Calvez, A. Jha, M. D. Dawson, J. A. Gupta, W. Sibbett, and C. T. A. Brown, “Femtosecond mode-locked Tm and Tm-Ho doped 2 μm glass lasers,” Opt. Express 18(21), 22090– 22098 (2010). #238116 $15.00 USD Received 16 Apr 2015; revised 11 May 2015; accepted 19 May 2015; published 21 May 2015 (C) 2015 OSA 1 Jun 2015 | Vol. 5, No. 6 | DOI:10.1364/OME.5.001431 | OPTICAL MATERIALS EXPRESS 1431 15. Y. Guo, G. Gao, M. Li, L. Hu, and J. Zhang, “Er-doped fluoro-tellurite glass: A new choice for 2.7μm lasers,” Mater. Lett. 80, 56–58 (2012). 16. Y. Guo, M. Li, L. Hu, and J. Zhang, “Intense 2.7 μm emission and structural origin in Er-doped bismuthate (Bi2O3-GeO2-Ga2O3-Na2O) glass,” Opt. Lett. 37(2), 268–270 (2012). 17. R.-G. Duan, K.-M. Liang, and S.-R. Gu, “A new criterion for the stability of glasses,” J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 18(8), 1131–1137 (1998). 18. Y. Tian, T. Wei, F. Chen, X. Jing, J. Zhang, and S. Xu, “Fluorescence characteristics and energy transfer of ytterbium-sensitized erbium-doped fluorophosphate glass for amplifier applications,” J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transf. 133, 311–318 (2014). 19. T. Wei, F. Chen, X. Jing, Y. Tian, F. Wang, and S. Xu, “Mid-infrared fluorescence of Y2O3 and Nb2O5 modified germanate glasses doped with Er pumped by 808nm LD,” Opt. Mater. 36(8), 1350–1356 (2014). 20. B. Judd, “Optical Absorption Intensities of Rare-Earth Ions,” Phys. Rev. 127(3), 750–761 (1962). 21. G. S. Ofelt, “Intensities of Crystal Spectra of Rare-Earth Ions,” J. Chem. Phys. 37(3), 511 (1962). 22. J. Fan, Y. Fan, Y. Yang, D. Chen, L. Calveza, X. Zhang, and L. Zhang, “Spectroscopic properties and energy transfer in Yb–Ho co-doped germanate glass emitting at 2.0μm,” J. Non-Cryst. Solids 357(11-13), 2431– 2434 (2011). 23. Y. P. Peng, Y. Guo, J. Zhang, and L. Zhang, “Ho3+Yb3+-codoped germanate-tellurite glasses for 2.0 μm emission performance,” Appl. Opt. 53(8), 1564–1569 (2014). 24. B. Peng and T. Izumitani, “Optical properties, fluorescence mechanisms and energy transfer in Tm, Ho and Tm -Ho doped near-infrared laser glasses, sensitized by Yb,” Opt. Mater. 4(6), 797–810 (1995). 25. K. Biswas, A. D. Sontakke, R. Sen, and K. Annapurna, “Enhanced 2 μm broad-band emission and NIR to visible frequency up-conversion from Ho/Yb co-doped Bi2O3-GeO2-ZnO glasses,” Spectrochim. Acta A Mol. Biomol. Spectrosc. 112, 301–308 (2013). 26. A. Florez, S. L. Oliveira, M. Flórez, L. A. Gómez, and L. A. O. Nunes, “Spectroscopic characterization of Ho ion-doped fluoride glass,” J. Alloys Compd. 418(1-2), 238–242 (2006). 27. Q. Zhang, G. Chen, G. Zhang, J. Qiu, and D. Chen, “Spectroscopic properties of Ho/Yb codoped lanthanum aluminum germanate glasses with efficient energy transfer,” J. Appl. Phys. 106(11), 113102 (2009). 28. L. Tao, Y. H. Tsang, B. Zhou, B. Richards, and A. Jha, “Enhanced 2.0μm emission and energy transfer in Yb/Ho/Ce triply doped tellurite glass,” J. Non-Cryst. Solids 358(14), 1644–1648 (2012). 29. Y. Tian, R. Xu, L. Zhang, L. Hu, and J. Zhang, “Enhanced effect of Ce ions on 2 μm emission and energy transfer properties in Yb/Ho doped fluorophosphate glasses,” J. Appl. Phys. 109(8), 083535 (2011). 30. J.-P. Zhang, W.-J. Zhang, J. Yuan, Q. Qian, Q.-Y. Zhang, and B. Dunn, “Enhanced 2.0 μm Emission and Lowered Upconversion Emission in Fluorogermanate Glass-Ceramic Containing LaF3:Ho/Yb by Codoping CeIons,” J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 96(12), 3836–3841 (2013). 31. J. M. F. van Dijk, “On the nonradiative and radiative decay rates and a modified exponential energy gap law for 4f–4f transitions in rare-earth ions,” J. Chem. Phys. 78(9), 5317 (1983). 32. X. Li, Q. Nie, S. Dai, T. Xu, L. Lu, and X. Zhang, “Energy transfer and frequency upconversion in Ho/Yb co-doped bismuth-germanate glasses,” J. Alloys Compd. 454(1-2), 510–514 (2008).