Multichannel emission from Pr3+ doped heavy-metal oxide glass B2O3–PbO–GeO2–Bi2O3 for broadband signal amplification

Pr2O3 doped 26.66B2O3–52.33PbO–16GeO2–4Bi2O3–1Pr2O3 (BPGBPr) glass was synthesized by melt quenching technique. X-ray diffraction confirmed the amorphous nature of the glass and the presence of different vibrational groups was identified by Raman spectroscopy. Differential thermal analysis indicated that the glass transition and crystallization temperature were ~354 °C and ~521 °C respectively, indicating good thermal stability. Visible and near infrared absorption spectra were measured and used to evaluate the Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters to calculate the radiative properties for the emission levels of Pr3+. Photoluminescence spectra were recorded in the visible and infrared regions at temperatures between 16 and 300 K. The spectroscopic results indicated that BPGBPr can be useful as a material for broadband optical amplifier in the region of ~1450 cm−1.