Dy3+‐Doped Selenide Chalcogenide Glasses: Influence of Dy3+ Dopant‐Additive and Containment

This work reports on process‐induced impurities in rare‐earth ion: Dy³⁺‐doped selenide chalcogenide glasses, which are significant materials for active photonic devices in the mid‐infrared region. In particular, the effect of contamination from the silica glass ampoule containment used in chalcogenide glass synthesis is studied. Heat‐treating Dy‐foil‐only, and DyCl₃‐only, separately, within evacuated silica glass ampoules gives direct evidence of silica ampoule corrosion by the rare‐earth additives. The presence of Ga₂Se₃] associated with Dy] on the silica glass ampoule that has been contact with the chalcogenide glass during glass melting, is reported for the first time. Studies of 0–3000 ppmw Dy³⁺‐doped Ge_16.5As₉Ga₁₀Se_64.5 glasses show that Dy‐foil is better than DyCl₃ as the Dy³⁺ additive in Ge‐As‐Ga‐Se glass in aspects of avoiding bulk crystallization, improving glass surface quality and lowering optical loss. However, some limited Dy/Si/O related contamination is observed on the surfaces of Dy‐foil‐doped chalcogenide glasses, as found for DyCl₃‐doped chalcogenide glasses, reported in our previous work. The surface contamination indicates the production of Dy₂O₃ and/or ≡Si‐O‐Dy=]‐containing particles during chalcogenide glass melting, which are potential light‐scattering centers in chalcogenide bulk glass and heterogeneous nucleation agents for α‐Ga₂Se₃ crystals.