Effect of SiO2 on the thermal stability and spectroscopic properties of Er3+-doped tellurite glasses

Er3+-doped tellurite glass(TeO2-ZnO-Na2O) prepared using the conventional melt-quenching method is modified by introducing the SiO2,and its effects on the thermal stability of glass host and the 1.53 μm band spectroscopic properties of Er3+ are investigated by measuring the absorption spectra,1.53 μm band fluorescence spectra,Raman spectra and differential scanning calorimeter(DSC) curves.It is found that for Er3+-doped tellurite glass,besides improving its thermal stability,introducing SiO2 is helpful for the further improvement of the fluorescence full width at half maximum(FWHM) and bandwidth quality factor.The results indicate that the prepared Er3+-doped tellurite glass containing an appropriate amount of SiO2 has good prospect as a candidate of gain medium applied for 1.53 μm broadband amplifier.