Luminescence of Er3+/ Nd3+ co-doped lithium niobate tellurite glass

Achieving tuneable photoluminescence via controlled co-doping of rare earth ions in lithium niobate based glasses are challenging. A series of Er3+/ Nd3+ co-doped tellurite glasses of composition (70-x-y) TeO2 – 15 Li2CO3 – 15 Nb2O5 – (x) Er2O3 – (y) Nd2O3 with x = 0; 1.0 mol % and 0 ≤ y ≤ 1.0 mol % are prepared using melt quenching technique. The influence of co-dopants on the emission properties is analyzed and discussed using partial energy level diagram of rare earth ions. The dopants concentration dependent physical properties such as refractive index, molar volume, density, polarizability and molar refractions are determined. The down-converted luminescence spectra for 2G9/2 a4I9/2 transition reveal a strong green emission band centred at 497 nm is attributed to the energy transfer from erbium to neodymium ion. The emission spectra exhibit five prominent peaks centred at 497, 539, 553, 616 and 634 nm corresponding to the transitions from 2H11/2, 4S3/2 and 4F9/2 excited states to the ground state of Er3+ ion and the transitions from 2G9/2, 2G7/2, 2H11/2 and 4F9/2 excited states to ground state of Nd3+ ion. The highest intensity is achieved for x = y = 1.0 mol%. The excellent luminescence response suggests that our glasses may be nominated for solid state lasers and other photonic applications.