Mechanical and ∼2 μm emission properties of Tm3+-doped GeO2–TeO2 (or SiO2)–PbO–CaO glasses

•Tm3+-doped glass samples based on GeO2–TeO2 (or SiO2)–PbO–CaO are fabricated and characterized.•The density, refractive index, and Knoop hardness of the glass samples are determined.•The fluorescent intensity, spontaneous transition probability, and the gain properties of ∼1800 nm of Tm3+ ions are analyzed.

Tm3+-doped glass samples based on GeO2–TeO2 (or SiO2)–PbO–CaO are fabricated and characterized. The thermal properties, density, refractive index, theoretical optical basicity and Knoop hardness of the glass samples are determined. Fuchtbauer–Ladenburg formula is applied to calculate the stimulated emission cross-sections of the glass samples. The fluorescent intensity, spontaneous transition probability, and the gain properties of ∼1800 nm of Tm3+ ions decrease in the GeO2–TeO2 glass system when TeO2 is replace by GeO2 or in the GeO2–SiO2 system with increasing SiO2 content.