Influence of temperature on the photoluminescence efficiency of chalcogenide GeS2–Ga2S3–Er2S3 glasses

The photoluminescence (PL) excited with 514.5 nm light of the (GeS2)80(Ga2S3)20 glassy host doped with Er at low temperatures from 4.2 to 300 K has been studied. It has been found that the PL efficiency is maximum at 1.22 at.% Er and considerably increases by temperature decreasing down to 4.2 K and excitation power increasing till 200 mW cm−2. The PL emission band from Er3+ state at around 1538 nm, attributed to the 4I15/2 → 4I13/2 transition, has been characterized by deconvoluting the experimental spectra. The intensity variation of the obtained subbands at 1538 ± 1, 1547 ± 2 and 1575 ± 7 nm with Er content and temperature has been specified and the extracted fine features have been evaluated with a view to enhanced PL efficiency.