Effect of Bi2O3 on spectroscopic properties of Er3+-doped lead oxyfluorosilicate glasses for broadband optical amplifiers

The spectroscopic properties of Er3+-doped lead oxyfluorosilicate glasses were analyzed with Judd–Ofelt and McCumber theories. The obtained data suggest that the fluorescence full width at half maximum (FWHM) is related to the Ω6 parameter, the larger the Ω6 parameter, and the broader the FWHM. The results showed that Er3+-doped 45SiO2–5Bi2O3–50PbF2 glass had the broadest FWHM (64 nm) and large stimulated emission cross-section (0.73 × 10−20 cm2) in these glass samples. Compared with other glass hosts, the gain bandwidth properties of Er3+-doped 45SiO2–5Bi2O3–50PbF2 glass is close to those of tellurite and bismuth glasses, and has advantage over those of silicate, phosphate and germante glasses. The results suggest that Er3+-doped 45SiO2–5Bi2O3–50PbF2 glass can be used as potential host material for developing broadband optical amplifiers in wavelength-division-multiplexing network system.