Mid-infrared emission in Tb^3+-doped selenide glass fiber

The mid-infrared (MIR) emission behavior of Tb3+-doped Ge–As–Ga–Se bulk glasses (500, 1000, and 1500 ppmw Tb3+) and unstructured fiber (500 ppmw Tb3+) is investigated when pumping at 2.013 μm. A broad emission band is observed at 4.3–6.0 μm corresponding to F57→F67, with an observed emission lifetime of 12.9 ms at 4.7 μm. The F47 level is depopulated nonradiatively and so it is proposed that Tb3+-doped Ge–As–Ga–Se fiber may operate as a quasi-three-level MIR fiber laser. Underlying glass-impurity vibrational absorption bands are numerically removed to give the true Tb3+ absorption cross section, as required for Judd–Ofelt (J–O) analysis. Radiative transition rates calculated from J–O theory are compared with measured lifetimes. A numerical model of the three-level Tb3+-doped fiber laser is developed for Tb3+ doping of 8.25×1024  ions m−3 (i.e., 500 ppmw) and dependence of laser performance on fiber length, output coupler reflectivity, pump wavelength, signal wavelength, and fiber background loss is calculated. Results indicate the feasibility of an efficient three-level MIR fiber laser operating within 4.5–5.3 μm, pumped at either 2.013 or 2.95 μm.

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