Optical properties of Er3+ in MoO3-Bi2O3-TeO2 glasses

Erbium-doped MoO3−Bi2O3−TeO2 (MBT) glasses suitable for broadband optical amplifier applications have been fabricated and characterized optically. The maximum phonon band of undoped glasses is at 915 cm−1, and the emission from the Er3+: 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transition locates around 1.53 μm with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of ∼80 nm. The lifetime and quantum efficiency of the 4I13/2 level are 2.13 ms and ∼90%, respectively. Under the same measurement condition, the upconversion emission intensities at 550 nm in Er3+-doped MBT glasses is about 30 times weaker than that in Er3+-doped Na2O−ZnO−TeO2 (NZT) glasses.