Observation of 2.7 μm emission from diode-pumped Er3+/Pr3+-codoped fluorophosphate glass.

This work reports the intense emission at 2.7 μm in a Er(3+)/Pr(3+)-codoped fluorophosphate (FP) host glass. This FP glass shows good thermal stability and high transmittance around 3 μm. The emission characteristic and energy transfer upon excitation of a conventional 980 nm laser diode are investigated. The prepared glass possesses higher spontaneous transition probability (22.16s(-1)) along with a larger calculated emission cross section (6.57 ± 0.11) × 10(-21) cm(2) corresponding to the laser transition (4)I(11/2)→(4)I(13/2). In addition, the effect of Pr(3+) codoping on the 2.7 μm photoluminescence in FP glass is demonstrated. Hence, the advantageous spectroscopic characteristics of Er(3+)/Pr(3+)-codoped FP glass together with the outstanding thermal property indicate that this kind of glass may become an attractive host for developing solid-state lasers at around 2.7 μm.