Influence of heat treatment on spectroscopic and structural properties of vitreous Er3+-doped zinc borotellurite

Abstract The effect of heat treatment on spectroscopic and structural properties of Er3+-doped zinc borotellurite glasses (TBZErx) is studied in the light of absorption, emission, x-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy. An increase in thermal stability factor (ΔT) with increasing erbium ion (Er3+) is observed. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirms the existence of α- TeO2 and Er2(TeO3)3 phases in vitreous samples after heat treatment. The band gap and Urbach energy decrease after heat treatment. The Judd-Ofelt parameters indicate high asymmetry in the environs of Er3+ ions. The CIE chromaticity coordinates for prepared samples lies in green region. While going from TBZErx to TBZErxGC, an increase in lifetime values is observed for same rare earth (RE) concentration. An increase in the emission intensity and up-conversion intensity is observed after ceramization. The higher spectroscopic properties like stimulated emission cross-section (σemi(λ)), lifetime (τ) and quantum efficiency (η) values of TBZErxGC than TBZErx suggests their suitability for photonic applications.