Near-infrared luminescence of rare earth ions in oxyfluoride lead borate glasses and transparent glass-ceramic materials

Oxyfluoride lead borate glasses singly doped with Nd3+ and Er3+ ions have been studied before and after thermal treatment. The orthorhombic PbF2 crystallites are formed during thermal treatment, which was evidenced by X-ray diffraction analysis. Near-infrared luminescence spectra at 1.06 μm and 1.53 μm have been registered for samples before and after annealing, which correspond to the main F3/2–I11/2 and I13/2–I15/2 laser transitions of Nd3+ and Er3+ ions, respectively. Luminescence decays from F3/2 state of Nd3+ and I13/2 state of Er3+ have been analyzed in detail. Contrary to Nd-doped samples, the luminescence lines obtained for Er-doped transparent oxyfluoride glass-ceramics are more intense and narrowed, whereas the luminescence decays from I13/2 state of Er3+ are slightly longer in comparison to precursor glasses.