Effect of Ce3+, Dy3+, and Tb3+ additions on the spectroscopic properties of Er3+/Yb3+ codoped tellurite glasses

Serious up-conversion process (UCPE) of Er3+ in Er3+/Yb3+ codoped tellurite glass is one of the big challenges impeding Er3+ doped tellurite fiber amplifier towards full commercialization, though its gain bandwidth is much wider than Er3+ doped silica fiber amplifier. For solving or suppressing UCPE, it has been proposed to better introduce a third foreign ion with proper layout of energy level into this system, and thus, modulate energy transfer between them. Three rare earth ions, RE3+=Ce3+, Dy3+, and Tb3+, are selected in this paper, and it turns out that three of them can efficiently reduce the transition probability of UCPE, and Ce3+ rather than Dy3+ and Tb3+ can at the same time enhance the 1.53 μm emission of Er3+ originating 4I13/2→4I15/2. The underlying mechanism will be discussed based on both experimental and theoretical results.