Color tunability with temperature and pump intensity in Yb3+/Tm3+ codoped aluminosilicate glass under anti-Stokes excitation

Pump and thermally induced color tunabilities were demonstrated in Yb3+/Tm3+ codoped low silica calcium aluminosilicate (LSCAS) glass under anti-Stokes excitation at 1.064 mu m. The effects of pump intensity and sample's temperature on the upconversion emissions and mainly on the color tunabilities (from 800 to 480 nm) were investigated. The results revealed a 20- and a threefold reductions at 800/480 nm ratio as, respectively, the pump intensity and sample's temperature were increased from 27 to 700 kW/cm(2) and from 296 to 577 K. These behaviors with pump intensity and temperature (a strong increase of the 480 nm emission in comparison with the 800 nm one) were attributed to the several efficient processes occurring in the LSCAS system (Yb3+ -> Tm3+ energy-transfer processes, easy saturations of the Yb3+ and Tm3+ excited states, and radiative emissions). Besides these assigns, the temperature dependence is mainly assigned to the temperature-dependent effective absorption cross section of the ytterbium sensitizer through the so-called multiphonon-assisted anti-Stokes excitation process. Theoretical analyses and fits of the experimental data provided quantitative information. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3457926]