Spectroscopic and Thermal Properties of GeS2-based chalcohalide glasses

Abstract The low phonon energy of germanium sulphide glasses makes them ideal candidates as hosts for 1·3 μm fibre amplifier applications. However, the GeS2 glass host suffers from a major drawback of poor rare-earth ion solubility. In an efficient device, the solubility of Pr ions has to be enhanced, without adversely affecting either the thermal or the spectroscopic properties of the glass. In the present investigation, we report the synthesis and optical properties of modified GeS2-based chalcohalide glasses with excellent thermal characteristics suitable for drawing low-loss optical fibres.