2.7 µm band enhancement induced by energy transfer in Er 3+ /Tm 3+ co-doped tellurite glass

In this work, the improvement of 2.7 µm band mid-infrared fluorescence of Er3+ was investigated. When 0.6 mol% Tm2O3 was incorporated into the tellurite glass doped with 0.5 mol% Er2O3, the 2.7 µm band fluorescence originating from the Er3+:4I11/2→4I13/2 transition underwent significant enhancement up to 2.3 times under the excitation of an 808 nm laser diode. This enhancement was attributed to the energy transfers between Tm3+ and Er3+ ions. The energy transfer mechanism was investigated quantitatively by calculating the microparameters and phonon contributions. The obtained result indicated that Er3+/Tm3+ co-doped tellurite glass is a promising candidate applied for 2.7 µm band optoelectronic devices.