Ceramics-Silikáty 45 (3) 105-110 (2001)

SULPHIDE GLASSES DOPED WITH RARE EARTH ELEMENTS

D. Ležal, M. Poulain, J. Zavadil 

Sulphide glasses of GeGaS and GeGaAsS systems doped with rare earth ions are promising materials for various photonic applications. Because the solubility of rare earth elements is influenced by the purity of host glass, namely by OH group concentration, the attention has been paid to the preparation of highly pure and homogeneous undoped and rare earth doped glasses. Particularly the systems Ge_0.25Ga_0.1-xS_0.65Pr_x and Ge_0.25Ga_0.05-xAs_0.05S_0.65Pr_x with x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.6 wt.% have been prepared. Synthesised material systems have been characterised by chemical and X-ray analysis, scanning electron microscopy, light scattering, Raman and low-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopies. The optimal Pr concentration has been found to be around 0.1 wt.%. For higher Pr and OH group concentrations the constitution of clusters has been observed.

Keywords: Sulphide glasses, Optical fibers, Fluorescence, Luminescence