Thermal and photoluminescence properties of Er3+-doped (GaSe) (As2Se3)1− glasses

Abstract We studied the thermal properties and photoluminescence characteristics of (GaSe) x (As 2 Se 3 ) 1− x glasses with different amounts of GaSe (up to 5 mol%) and 1 at.% Er 3+ . We prepared the glass samples by means of melt-quenching procedure. We have carried out temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry measurements to study glass transformation, thermal stability, phase uniformity and structural changes of these glasses. We evaluated the glass transition temperature and the crystallization behavior of glass samples. We used a 980 nm laser diode to pump bulk Er-doped glass samples. The 980 nm pumping induced a 1550 nm photoluminescence output signal. By appropriately pulsing the excitation, we have measured the lifetime of the exited Er state in these Se–As–Ga optical glasses. We have also done visible to NIR spectroscopy of the glass samples and obtain the Er 3+ absorption spectra.