Enhancement of Optical Telecommunication Bands: Pr 3+ -Doped Halide Phosphate Glasses Display Broadband NIR Photoluminescence Emission.

In the optical energy gap, visible and near-IR emission of halide phosphate glasses with a composition of 40P₂O₅-30ZnO-20LiCl-10BaF₂ in mol% doped with 3.5 × 10⁴ ppm Pr₂O₃, referred to as PZLBPr, were synthesized. The UV-VIS-NIR and spectroscopic properties of these glasses were also predicted. The current glasses had broadband emission photoluminescence covering a wavelength range of 1250 to 1700 nm when excited at 455 nm. These bands for near-infrared emission luminescence relate to the transitions ¹G₄ → ³H₅, ¹D₂ → ¹G₄, and ³H₄ → ³F₃, ³F₄ in the optical telecommunication window. The significant PL emission wideband was caused by the radiative transition from Pr³⁺: ¹D₂ to ¹G₄. At 445 nm excitation, these glasses exhibited emission bands that corresponded to blue/reddish orange spectral ranges in visible ranges. The prepared glass has a high lasing quality factor (Ω₄/Ω₆ = 0.9), high optical energy (4.72 eV), and quantum efficiency = 87.3% with FWHM = 156 nm of transition emission from the ¹D₂ → ¹G₄ level. As a result, broadband near infrared optical amplifiers can be fabricated from the prepared glasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]