NIR emission studies and dielectric properties of Er3+-doped multicomponent tellurite glasses

•Compositional and structural properties of the tellurite glass were studied.•Radiation trapping effect has been observed in the fabricated glasses.•The glass exhibits higher bandwidth and gain apt for laser applications.•Effect of Er3 + ion concentration on near-infrared emission properties was studied.•Dielectric properties of the glasses can be tuned by the proper doping of Er3 + ion.

Multicomponent tellurite glasses containing altered concentrations of Er2O3 (ranging from 0 to 1 mol%) were prepared by the standard melt quenching technique. Investigations through energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Raman scattering spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, near-infrared (NIR) emission studies and dielectric measurement techniques were done to probe their compositional, structural, spectroscopic and dielectric characteristics. The broad emission together with the high values of the effective linewidth (~ 63 nm), stimulated emission cross-section (9.67 × 10− 21 cm2) and lifetime (2.56 ms) of 4I13/2 level for 0.5 mol% of Er3+ makes these glasses attractive for broadband amplifiers. From the measured capacitance and dissipation factor, the relative permittivity, dielectric loss and the conductivity were computed; which furnish the dielectric nature of the multicomponent tellurite glasses that depend on the applied frequency. Assuming the ideal Debye behavior as substantiated by Cole–Cole plot, an examination of the real and imaginary parts of impedance was performed. The power–law and Cole–Cole parameters were resolved for all the glass samples. From the assessment of the emission analysis and dielectric properties of the glass samples, it was obvious that the Er3+ ion concentration had played a vital role in tuning the optical and dielectric properties and the 0.5 mol% of Er3+ -doped glass was confirmed as the optimum composition.

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