Studies of Er3+ doped germanate–oxyfluoride and tellurium–germanate–oxyfluoride transparent glass–ceramics

Abstract An erbium doped germanate–oxyfluoride glass 60GeO 2 · 20PbO · 10PbF 2 · 10CdF 2 (GPOF) and a tellurium–germanate–oxyfluoride glass 30TeO 2 · 30GeO 2 · 20PbO · 10PbF 2 · 10CdF 2 (TGPOF) were prepared in the bulk form. By appropriate heat treatment of the as-prepared glasses above, transparent glass–ceramics were obtained with the formation of β-PbF 2 nanocrystals in the glass matrix confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Optical absorption and photoluminescence measurements were performed on as-prepared glass and glass–ceramics. The luminescence of Er 3+ ions in transparent glass–ceramics revealed sub-band splitting generally seen in a crystal host. The intensity of red and near infrared luminescence significantly increased in transparent glass–ceramic compared to that in as-prepared glass. Two luminescence bands at 758 nm from 4 F 7/2 → 4 I 13/2 and at 817 nm from 2 H 11/2 → 4 I 13/2 transitions were observed from transparent glass–ceramic but cannot be seen from the corresponding as-prepared glass. These results are attributed to the change of ligand field of Er 3+ ions and the decrease of effective phonon energy when Er 3+ ions were incorporated into the precipitated β-PbF 2 nanocrystals.