Study of the focusing effect of silica microspheres on the upconversion of Er3+-Yb3+ codoped glass ceramics

The upconversion emission properties of Er3+-Yb3+ codoped glass and glass ceramic samples with different Si/Al ratios and thermal treatments were analyzed by covering their surfaces with silica microspheres (3.8 μm diameter). A 950 nm laser beam is focused by the microspheres producing a set of photonic nanojets near the surface of the samples. After the upconversion processes of the Er3+ ions located in each microsphere focus area, these ions emit light in the green and red regions. The red emission from each sample was measured, yielding an upconversion intensity in the focal areas three times higher than the emission from the bare substrate. To estimate the real size of the red emission area under a single microsphere, a deconvolution of the measured focal spots with the Point Spread Function of the experimental setup was performed, resulting in a Full Width at Half Maximum of 330 nm. The results obtained by Finite-Difference Time-Domain simulations are in good agreement with the experimental values.