Impact of erbium oxide on structure, linear and nonlinear optical properties of bismo-borate glass systems for using in optical applications.

In the present article, samples of erbium (Er)-doped bismo-borate glasses have been fabricated with general chemical compositions: 70B2O3–10CaO–10Li2O−(10-x)Bi2O3− xEr2O3: 0 (Er-0.0) ≤ x ≤ 1 (Er-1.0) mol% using the conventional melt-quench process. The impact of Er3+ ions on the structure and optical (linear and nonlinear) characteristics of Er-0.0/Er-1.0 glass blocks have been investigated. XRD measurements showed the lack in crystallinity of the prepared samples. In the range of UV-Vis measurements, there are absorption bands attributed to the electronic transitions (4f−4f) of Er3+ ions. The absorption bands seen at wavelengths of approximately 366, 379, 409, 452, 490, 523, 545, 653, 797, and 978 nm are associated with electronic transitions from the ground state, 4I15/2, to several excited states, namely 4G9/2, 2G11/2, 2H9/2, 4F5/2, 4F7/2, 2H11/2, 4S3/2, 4F9/2, 4I9/2, and 4I11/2, respectively. The optical band gap (Eg) values ranged from 2.61 to 3.11 eV for Er0.0 to Er1.0 glass samples, respectively. Values of linear refractive index (n0) ranged from 2.498 to 2.374. Values of the nonlinear refractive index varied from 7.76 to 4.99, while the third order non-linear optical susceptibility (χ(3)) values ranged from 5.14 to 3.14 for Er0.0 to Er1.0 glasses, respectively. Therefore, the suggested glasses can be used in several optical applications such as opto-electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]