A new sol-gel material doped with an erbium complex and its potential optical-amplification application

Abstract

The crystal structure of a ternary Er(DBM)3phen complex (DBM = dibenzoylmethane; phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) and its in-situ synthesis via a sol-gel process are reported. The infrared (IR), diffuse reflectance (DR), and fluorescence spectra of the pure complex and the Er3+/DBM/phen co-doped luminescent hybrid gel, formed via an in-situ method (ErDP gel), have been investigated. The results reveal that the erbium complex is successfully synthesized in situ in the ErDP gel. Excitation at the maximum absorption wavelength of the ligands resulted in the typical near-IR luminescence (centered at around 1.54 μm) resulting from the 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transition of the Er3+ ion, which contributes to the efficient energy transfer from the ligands to the Er 3+ ion in both the Er(DBM)3phen complex and the ErDP gel (an antenna effect). The full width at half maximum (FWHM) centered at 1541 nm in the emission spectrum of the ErDP gel is 72 nm, which has potential for optical-amplification applications. Further theoretical analysis on the Er 3+ ion in the ErDP gel shows that it appears to be a promising candidate for tunable lasers and planar optical amplifiers. © 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.