Ultra-broadband and thermally stable NIR emission in Bi-doped glasses and fibers enabled by a metal reduction strategy |
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| Authors: | Weiwei Chen Yafei Wang Jing Zhang Baotian Qiu Jianrong Qiu Guoping Dong |
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| Affiliation: | 1. The State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Guangdong Engineering Technology Research and Development Center of Special Optical Fiber Materials and Devices, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fiber Laser Materials and Applied Techniques, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, P. R. China;2. Key Laboratory of Materials for High Power Laser, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, P. R. China;3. School of Physics and Optoelectronic, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, P. R. China;4. State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Optical Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P. R. China |
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| Abstract: | Bismuth (Bi)-doped glasses with broadband near-infrared (NIR) emission have been drawing increasing interest due to their potential applications in tunable fiber lasers and broadband optical amplifiers. Yet, the implementation of highly efficient and ultra-broadband Bi NIR emission covering the whole telecommunication window remains a daunting challenge. Here, via a metal reduction strategy to simultaneously create a chemically reductive environment during glass melting and enhance the local network rigidity, a super broadband (FWHM ≈ 600 nm) NIR emission covering the entire telecommunications window with greatly enhanced intensity was achieved in Bi-doped germanate glasses. More importantly, due to the excellent thermal stability, the super broadband Bi NIR emission can be well retained after the glass was drawn into an optical fiber. Furthermore, the transmission loss of 0.066 dB/cm at 1310 nm and an obvious broadband amplified spontaneous emission spectrum spanning a range of 1000–1600 nm were observed in this fiber. This work can strengthen our comprehension of the complicated Bi NIR luminescence behaviors and offer a feasible and universal way to fabricate tunable fiber lasers and broadband optical amplifiers based on Bi-doped multicomponent glasses. |
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| Keywords: | bismuth metal reduction multicomponent glass fiber ultra-broadband NIR emission |
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