Optical properties of erbium doped antimony based glasses: Promising visible and infrared amplifiers materials

Highly stable glasses in the (70 −  x )Sb 2 O 3 20Na 2 O10ZnO x Er 2 O 3 ( x  = 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mol%) system have been prepared and investigated by UV–Vis–NIR absorption, near infrared photoluminescence and time‐resolved spectroscopy. Judd–Ofelt study has been used to determine the intensity parameters ( Ω 2 , Ω 4 , and Ω 6 ), spontaneous emission probabilities, branching ratios, and radiative lifetimes ( τ R ) related to the corresponding optical transitions of Er 3+ ions. Details of the emission at ∼1530 nm and spectroscopic characteristics such as the stimulated emission cross‐section ( σ e ), effectiveband width (Δ λ eff ), quantum efficiency, and the optical gain have been summarized, accounting the role of the increased Er content. The obtained results indicate that these new low phonon energy glasses could be used as a laser medium and for optical amplification in the 1.5 µm region. In particular, the composition containing 0.5 mol% Er 2 O 3 exhibits optimal values of Ω 2 (4.5 × 10 −20  cm 2 ), Δ λ eff  = 57 nm, σ e  = 7.28 × 10 −21  cm 2 , τ meas (3.36 ms), and quantum efficiency of the 4 I 13/2 level of Er 3+ ions ∼71%.