Spectroscopic properties of Er3+-doped tellurite glass for 1.55 μm optical amplifier

Er3+-doped TeO2-BaO (Li2O, Na2O)-La2O3 tellurite glass system was prepared and their density, characteristic temperatures and optical properties were determined and investigated. For the TeO2-BaO-La2O3-Er2O3 system, composition with 10 mol% BaO presented the highest thermal stability and good infrared transmittance. Intense and broad 1.53 μm infrared fluorescence were observed under 977 nm diode laser excitation and the most full width at half-maximum (FWHM) is ∼60 nm. According to absorption spectrum, we calculated the optical parameters by means of Judd-Ofelt and McCumber theory such as the fluorescence lifetimes which are about 2.72-3.25 ms and the maximum emission cross-sections which are ∼1.0 pm2 at 1.531 μm. The σe × FWHM value of composition with 10 mol% BaO for gain bandwidth is ∼600 exceeding those in silicon and phosphate glasses. Our results indicated this kind of tellurite glasses could be used as an ideal host glass for optical amplifier.