Vol. 38, Issue 1, pp. 211-216 (2008)

Abstract

Oxyfluoride lead borate glasses singly doped with Nd³⁺ and Er³⁺ ions have been studied before and after thermal treatment. The orthorhombic PbF2 crystallites are formed during thermal treatment, which was evidenced by X-ray diffraction analysis. Near-infrared luminescence spectra at 1.06 μm and 1.53 μm have been registered for samples before and after annealing, which correspond to the main ⁴F_3/2–⁴I_11/2 and ⁴I_13/2–⁴I_15/2 laser transitions of Nd³⁺ and Er³⁺ ions, respectively. Luminescence decays from ⁴F_3/2 state of Nd³⁺ and ⁴I_13/2 state of Er³⁺ have been analyzed in detail. Contrary to Nd-doped samples, the luminescence lines obtained for Er-doped transparent oxyfluoride glass-ceramics are more intense and narrowed, whereas the luminescence decays from ⁴I_13/2 state of Er³⁺ are slightly longer in comparison to precursor glasses.