The influence of silver-ion doping using ion implantation on the luminescence properties of Er–Yb silicate glasses

A set of zinc-silicate glasses with different ratios of erbium and ytterbium was fabricated. To achieve Ag-rich thin films in a sub-surface layer, ion-implantation technique at an energy of 1.2 MeV and 1.7 MeV with a fluence of 1 × 1016 cm−2 was used. Post-implantation annealing was also applied. Changes in the spectroscopic and lasing properties of erbium ions as a function of implantation fluence of silver were studied with the aim to assess the positive effect of silver as a sensitiser of erbium luminescence. Therefore, absorption spectra in the visible range as well as luminescence spectra in the near-infrared range were measured and partially also the 4I11/2–4I15/2 transition of the erbium ion was studied. The results showed that silver positively influenced luminescence intensity at 1530 nm by increasing it almost three times. The biggest increase was achieved in glass with the highest concentration of erbium. Luminescence lifetime was not significantly influenced by the presence of silver and still remained around 10 ms.