Enhanced resonant nonlinear absorption and optical limiting in Er3+ ions doped multicomponent tellurite glasses

• Published in: Materials research bulletin Vol. 104; pp. 227 - 235
• Main Authors: Sajna, M.S., Perumbilavil, Sreekanth, Prakashan, V.P., Sanu, M.S., Joseph, Cyriac, Biju, P.R., Unnikrishnan, N.V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2018
• Subjects: ABSORPTION SPECTRA; CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; DOPED MATERIALS; ERBIUM IONS; GLASS; MULTI-PHOTON PROCESSES; Multiphoton absorption; NEAR INFRARED RADIATION; NONLINEAR PROBLEMS; Optical limiting; Optical nonlinearity; OXYGEN IONS; POLARIZABILITY; REFRACTIVE INDEX; RESONANCE ABSORPTION; Tellurite glasses; ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRA; X-RAY SPECTRA; Z-scan technique; Optical limiting; Z-scan technique; Tellurite glasses; Multiphoton absorption; Optical nonlinearity
• ISSN: 0025-5408; 1873-4227
• DOI: 10.1016/j.materresbull.2018.04.026

[Display omitted] •Nonlinear optical properties of TPBKZFEr glasses investigated by Z-scan technique.•Optical limiting property of the TPBKZFEr glasses is studied for the first time.•Nonlinearity of the prepared glasses found to be enhanced with Er3+ concentration.•The mechanism behind the nonlinear properties is successfully explained.•It is evident that these glasses can be developed as tunable optical limiters. Nonlinear optical properties of multicomponent tellurite glasses doped with Er3+ ions were investigated by open aperture Z-scan measurements. Compositional and linear optical properties of the glasses were examined by the energy dispersive X-ray spectrum and UV–vis–NIR absorption spectrum analysis respectively. The mechanism behind the optical nonlinearity and optical limiting efficiency was successfully explained by evaluating the physical properties such as density, refractive index and polarizability of the glasses. The nonlinear properties critically depend on the polarizability, which is found to increase with the addition of Er3+ ions by the creation of non-bridging oxygen ions. By the systematic addition of Er3+ ions, we have dictated the physical properties and thus tuned the optical limiting efficiency of the glasses. This makes the Er3+-doped multicomponent tellurite glasses flexible tunable optical limiters for potential device applications.