Thermal stability and spectroscopic properties of Er3+-doped antimony-borosilicate glasses

This paper reports on the optical spectroscopic properties and thermal stability of Er(3+)-doped antimony-borosilicate glasses for developing 1.5mum optical amplifiers. Upon excitation at 980nm laser diode, an intense 1.5mum infrared fluorescence has been observed with the maximum full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 90nm for Er(3+)-doped antimony-borosilicate glasses. The emission cross-section and the lifetime of the (4)I(13/2) level of Er(3+) ions are 6.3x10(-21)cm(2) and 0.30ms, respectively. It is noted that the product of the emission cross-section and FWHM of the glass studied is as great as 567x10(-21)cm(2)nm, which is comparable or higher than that of bismuthate and tellurite glasses.