Fluorescence and nonradiative properties of Nd3+ in novel heavy metal contained fluorophosphate glass

Abstract

We demonstrate new series of heavy metal containing fluorophosphate glass system. The fluorescence and nonradiative properties of Nd 3+ ions are investigated as a function of Nd 2 O3 concentration. The variation of intensity parameters Ω2, Ω4, and Ω6 is determined from absorption spectra. The spontaneous probability (A) and branching ratio (β) are determined using intensity parameters. The emission cross sections for the 4 F 3/2 →4 I 13/2 transition, which is calculated by Fuchtbabauer-Ladenburg method, decrease from 6.1× 10 -21 to 3.0× 10 -21 ( pm 2) and those for the 4 F 3/2 →4 I 11/2 transition decrease from 3.51× 10 -20 to 1.7× 10 -20 as Nd 2 O3 concentration increase up to 3 wt%. The nonradiative relaxation is analyzed in terms of multiphonon relaxation and concentration quenching due to energy transfer among Nd 3+ ions. Finally, the above results obtained at 1 wt % Nd 2 O3 are compared with some of reported laser host glasses which indicated the potentials for broadband-amplifiers and high-power laser applications.