Dehydroxylation processing and lasing properties of a Nd alumino-phosphate glass

In this work, we have studied the preparation and properties of an alumino-phosphate glass with composition 13Na2O-13K2O-16BaO-4Al2O3-54P2O5 (mol%). The first part of the work deals with the study of the processing conditions of the dehydroxylation of the phosphate glass, which was performed by remelting under N2 flow using graphite crucibles. Glass samples from 5 to 50 g and Nd2O3 doped were submitted to dehydroxylation and the influence of temperature, time, mass of glass and viscosity were correlated with the content of water in the glasses through the coefficient of absorption of OH ions. The network structure of the glasses was also determined by means of 31P and 27Al 1D/2D nuclear magnetic resonance and the local environment of Nd3+ ions was probed by electron paramagnetic resonance. The optimized conditions of processing were then used to obtain a dehydroxylated glass with a 2.5 wt% Nd2O3 whose spectroscopic and laser emission properties were studied. The spectroscopic properties of Nd3+ ions which include, JuddOfelt calculation, stimulated emission cross-section of the laser transition, lifetime, and quantum efficiency are presented. Site-selective laser spectroscopy and stimulated emission obtained under selective wavelength pumping along the 4I9/2 -> 4F5/2 absorption band were performed to determine the distribution of crystal field in which the rare earth is located, together with its influence in the pump wavelength dependence of the spontaneous and laser emissions of Nd3+ in this glass matrix. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. CC_BY_4.0

Automated summary

This study investigated the preparation and properties of an alumino-phosphate glass, analyzing the processing conditions, network structure, and local environment of doped ions. The spectroscopic and laser emission properties of the glass were studied, including JuddOfelt calculation, stimulated emission cross-section, lifetime, and quantum efficiency of Nd3+ ions. Site-selective laser spectroscopy and stimulated emission were utilized to determine the crystal field distribution and its influence on pump wavelength dependence of Nd3+ emissions.