The spectroscopic properties of Er3+,Yb3+,Tm3+ -codoped tellurite glass

Comparative study of spectroscopic properties of Er3+/Tm3+-codoped and Er3+/Tm3+/Yb3+ codoped tellurite glasses under a single wavelength pumping at 980nm were investigated. In the Er3+/Tm3+-codoped tellurite glasses, we have found that there exists fluorescence emissions at both 1.53 and -1.74 gin, which correspond to the transitions of the Er3(+):I-4(13/2)-->I-4(15/2) and Tm3+:F-3(4)-->H-3(6), respectively. Tm3+ act as an efficient co-dopant for depopulation of the Er3+: I-4(13/2) level, and thus reducing the optical amplification efficiency. Meanwhile, the addition of a small amount of Tm3+ to the Er3+ doped tellurite glass causes the quenching of the green up-conversion fluorescence around 524 and 546nm resulting in red visual. In the Er3+/Tm3+/Yb3+ codoped tellurite glasses, fluorescence emissions at both 1.53 and 1.63 mum communication windows were firstly observed. What' more, The FWHM (fluorescence width at half maximum) at 1.53 and 1.63 mum are 55nm and 50nm,respectively. This novel three earth ions codoping method could be applied to other low photon energy glasses, which would be possibly used for potential dual wavelength fiber-optic amplifiers to broaden the communication windows.