An Investigation of the Photonic Application of TeO 2 -K 2 TeO 3 -Nb 2 O 5 -BaF 2 Glass Co-Doped with Er 2 O 3 /Ho 2 O 3 and Er 2 O 3 /Yb 2 O 3 at 1.54 μm Based on Its Thermal and Luminescence Properties.

A glass composition using TeO 2 -K 2 TeO 3 -Nb 2 O 5 -BaF 2 co-doped with Er 2 O 3 /Ho 2 O 3 and Er 2 O 3 /Yb 2 O 3 was successfully fabricated. Its thermal stability and physical parameters were studied, and luminescence spectroscopy of the fabricated glasses was conducted. The optical band gap, E opt , decreased from 2.689 to 2.663 eV following the substitution of Ho 2 O 3 with Yb 2 O 3 . The values of the refractive index, third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility (χ (3) ), and nonlinear refractive index (n 2 ) of the fabricated glasses were estimated. Furthermore, the Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters Ωt (t=2,4,6), radiative properties such as transition probabilities ( A ed ), magnetic dipole-type transition probabilities ( A md ), branching ratios ( β ), and radiative lifetime (τ) of the fabricated glasses were evaluated. The emission cross-section and FWHM of the 4 I 13/2 → 4 I 15/2 transition around 1.54 μm of the glass were reported, and the emission intensity of the visible signal was studied under 980 nm laser excitation. The material might be a useful candidate for solid lasers and nonlinear amplifier devices, especially in the communications bands.