Spectroscopic properties of Tb3 +-doped lead zinc phosphate glass for green solid state laser

•Tb3 +-doped zinc lead phosphate glasses are prepared by the melt-quenching method.•The glasses show good thermal stability, chemical durability and rare earth solubility.•Large branching ratio and high green to blue intensity ratio were found at high doping concentration.

This work reports the spectroscopic properties of a new Tb3 +-doped zinc lead phosphate glass, prepared by a conventional melt-quenching technique. Glasses show good rare earth solubility and high thermal stability. Optical properties of the glasses are studied by absorption, photoluminescence excitation and emission spectroscopy and lifetime measurement. Several luminescence bands of Tb3 + ions are observed under 376 nm excitation wavelength in 400–650 nm spectral region. The green to blue intensity ratio increases by concentration of terbium ions up to 5 mol%. The lifetime of the 5D4 excited state was found to be 2.70 to 2.54 ms for low and high concentration of dopant ions, respectively. The strong green emission of the studied glasses with large experimental branching ratio highlights their capability as solid state green lasers.