Visible Upconversion Emission in Er3＋—Doped GeO2—PbO—PbF2 Glass

The upconversion fluorescence emission of Er3 -doped 60GeO2-2OPbO-2OPbF2 glass was experimentally investigated under the pump of 976-nm laser diode. The results reveal the existence of intense emission bands centred around 524, 545, and 657nm at room temperature. The green emission at 524 and 545nm is due to the 4S3/2 2 Hll/2→ 4I15/2 transition and the red emission of 657nm originates from the 4F9/2-→4I15/2 transition of Er3 . The quadratic dependence of the green and red emissions on excitation power indicates that a two-photonabsorption process occurs under the 976-nm excitation. The excited- state absorption from 4I ll/2 and the cross relaxation between two Er3 ions in the 4I ll/2 state contribute to the green emission. The red emission at 657nm is attributed to the excited-state absorption and cross relaxation processes in the 4I13/2 level as well as the 4S3/2 level nonradiative transition of Er3 .