Spectroscopic Properties Of Bismuth-Doped Silicate Glasses For Ultra-Broadband Near-Infrared Gain Media

Spectroscopic properties of 0.1-5.0mol% Bi2O3- doped lithium aluminisilicate (Bi-LAS) glasses for ultra-broadband near-infrared gain media have been investigated. Broad emissions, more than 500nm full width at half maximum (FWHM), were observed from each Bi-LAS glass studied. Bismuth concentration and excitation wavelength affected the spectral profiles of the Bi-LAS glasses. The emission bands shifted toward longer wavelengths with increasing the Bi2O3 contents. The broadest emission, which covered the range 950-1700 nm, was realized when teh 5.0 Bi-LAS glass was excited at 920 nm. The emission consisted of three Gaussian peaks, and the products of the stimulated emission cross section and the lifetime, OemT, for the peaks were 1.7 x 10-24 and 3.9x10-24cm2s. These high O em T Valures indicated that Bi-LAS glasses have significant potential as novel broadband gain media for amplifiers and tunable lasers.