Investigation of thermal and spectroscopic properties of Bi2O3-GeO2-Ga2O3-Na2O glasses doped with Er3+ ions

Heavy metal oxide glasses based on the Bi2O3-GeO2-Ga2O3-Na2O system doped with Er3+ ions have been presented.. The influence of glass composition on thermal stability and luminescent properties has been presented. Fabricated glass exhibits emission at 1538 nm (Er3+: 4I13/2 → 4I15/2) under 980 nm laser diode excitation. Due to different molar content of oxides in samples, various luminescence intensity was observed. High absorption cross-section allowed to determine the gain coefficient at the level of 3.47 cm-1 at the wavelength of 1538 nm. According to the results, fabricated bismuthgermanate glasses should be used for construction of optical waveguides operating in the range of near-infrared.