Designer emission spectra through tailored energy transfer in nanoparticle-doped silica preforms

This Letter provides a qualitative proof of concept for purposefully tailoring the emission spectrum of glass by spatially localizing dissimilar dopants to control the degree of energy transfer. More specifically, modified-chemical-vapor-deposition-derived silica preforms were solution doped with either a solution of individually Eu3+- or Tb3+-doped nanoparticles or a solution of Eu3+/Tb3+-codoped nanoparticles. The preform prepared using the codoped nanoparticles exhibited energy transfer from the Tb3+ to the Eu3+ ions, whereas the preform containing individually doped nanoparticles yielded only discretely Tb3+ or Eu3+ emissions. The extension of this work to broadband amplifiers and lasers is discussed. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America