Study of luminescence properties of novel Er3+ single-doped and Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped tellurite glasses

The novel Er3+ single-doped and Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped tellurite glasses were prepared. The effect of Yb2O3 concentration on absorption spectra, emission spectra and upconversion spectra of glasses were measured and investigated. The emission intensity, fluorescence full width at half maximum (FWHM) and upconversion luminescence of Er3+ go up with the increasing concentration of Yb3+ ions. The maximum FWHM of 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transition of Er3+ is approximate 77 nm for 1.41 × 1021 ions/cm3 concentration of Yb3+-doped glass. The visible upconversion emissions at about 532, 546 and 659 nm, corresponding to the 2H11/2 → 4I15/2, 4S3/2 → 4I15/2 and 4F9/2 → 4I15/2 transitions of Er3+, respectively, were simultaneously observed under the excitation at 970 nm. Subsequently, the possible upconversion mechanisms and important role of Yb3+ on the green and red emissions were discussed and compared. The results demonstrate that this kind of tellurite glass may be a potentially useful material for developing potential amplifiers and upconversion optical devices.