Fluorescence of Sm3+, Eu3+, Tb3+, Ho3+ and Er3+ doped borophosphate glasses

Sm3+, Eu3+, Tb3+, Ho3+, and Er3+ doped borophosphate glasses have been prepared by the melt quenching technique. Their fluorescence and absorption studies have been carried out in the range 400-800 nm and 220-800 nm respectively. Judd-Ofelt theory has been applied for the f<---->f transitions of rare earth ions to evaluate various Omega(lambda)(lambda = 2,4,6) parameters. Using the fluorescence data and these Omega(lambda), parameters, various radiative properties like transition probability, branching ratio, radiative lifetime and stimulated emission cross section of various emission lines have been evaluated. The values of these parameters indicate that D-5(0) --> F-7(4) transition in the case of Eu3+ doped glass, F-5(4), S-5(2) --> (5)J(8) transition in the case of Ho3+ doped glass and S-5(3/2) --> I-4(15/2) and F-4(9/2) --> I-4(15/2) transitions in the case of Er3+ doped glass can be considered to be good laser transitions in the visible region. The bonding environment surrounding the RE ion has been discussed.