Thermal and optical properties of Er3+ doped phosphate glasses

Phosphate glasses with various Er2O3 content have been prepared by the melt-quenching method. Differential thermal analysis was also carried out to obtain the glass transition and the crystallization temperatures, related to the thermal stability of the sample. Optical parameters such as refractive index n, complex dielectric constant (epsilon* = epsilon(1) + i epsilon(2)), and complex optical conductivity (sigma* = sigma(1) + i sigma(2)) of these glasses were determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the spectral range 1.5-4.5 eV at incident angle 78 degrees. The glass samples present a low refractive index (n(lambda) does not exceed 1.46) compared to other glasses. The real epsilon(1) and imaginary parts epsilon(2) of the dielectric constant epsilon, show that in 3.7-4.4 eV energy range, there is no dispersion and the absorption is minimal therefore, in this small domain our samples are good candidates to be exploited in the propagation of the electromagnetic waves.