Mid-infrared fiber laser application: Er3+ doped chalcogenide glasses

摘要: Mid-infrared (IR) lasers are of interest for a variety of applications including environmental sensing, LIDAR and military counter measures. However, this wavelength range lacks powerful, coherent, robust and compact sources. A solution can lie in chalcogenide glasses as host materials for rare earth ions. With an extended infrared transparency, low phonon energy limiting the non radiative multiphonon relaxation rates and suitable rare earth solubility, sulfide glasses based on Ge-Ga-Sb-S system make available radiative transitions in the mid-IR range. The glasses with nominal composition of Ge20Ga5Sb10S65 doped with Er3+ (500 to 10000 ppm) were prepared by means of conventional melting and quenching method. The Er3+, widely studied in glass fibers for near-IR amplification, was initially selected for the transition 4I9/2 to 4I11/2 emitting at around 4.5 μm in order to demonstrate the ability of this sulfide …