Fluoroindate glasses co-doped with Pr/Er for near-infrared luminescence applications.

Fluoroindate glasses co-doped with Pr/Er ions were synthesized and their near-infrared luminescence properties have been examined under selective excitation wavelengths. For the Pr/Er co-doped glass samples several radiative and nonradiative relaxation channels and their mechanisms are proposed under direct excitation of Pr and/or Er. The energy transfer processes between Pr and Er ions in fluoroindate glasses were identified. In particular, broadband near-infrared luminescence (FWHM = 278 nm) associated to the G → H (Pr), D → G (Pr) and I → I (Er) transitions of rare earth ions in fluoroindate glass is successfully observed under direct excitation at 483 nm. Near-infrared luminescence spectra and their decays for glass samples co-doped with Pr/Er are compared to the experimental results obtained for fluoroindate glasses singly doped with rare earth ions.