This investigation reports, the effect of the concentration of erbium and lead ions on the physical, structural and optical properties of lead borosilicate glasses. These glasses were synthesized by the melt quench method. In the synthesis, the concentration of the erbium (Er 3+ ) ion was varied in the order of 0.0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mol% and lead (Pb 2+ ) ion was varied in the order of 30, 29.9, 29.5, 29 and 28 mol%. The glasses were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy. From XRD, the amorphous nature of lead borosilicate glasses was confirmed. The functional groups which were present in the glasses have been identified by analyzing the FT-IR spectrum. From the absorption spectra, the oscillator strengths as well as the Judd-Ofelt (JO) intensity parameters were determined and compared with other hosts. The JO intensity parameters were further used to calculate certain radiative properties for the excited luminescent levels of Er 3+ ion. From emission spectra, full width at half maxima (FWHM), stimulated emission cross-sections (σ e ) and certain lasing parameters were evaluated and compared with reference host glasses. The lifetimes of 4 I 13/2 excited level of Er 3+ ion have also been recorded and analyzed. The calculated and experimental lifetimes were compared in terms of quantum efficiencies. From the photoluminescence analysis, the erbium doped lead borosilicate glasses well suited for optical fiber amplifiers are discussed. The rare earth ions exhibit interesting phenomenon such as shielding effect and hypersensitivity so they have been extensively used in various laser technology applications. [1] The materials incorporated with various rare earth ions can show intense emissions starting from ultraviolet (UV) to near infrared (NIR) regions due to their intra 4f-4f and 4f-5d transitions under various excitation wavelengths. [2] Each rare earth ion has its own significance in the respective field, like dysprosium (Dy 3+ ) doped materials are widely used in the generation of white light and in energy efficient display devices. In the present study, researchers concentrated on erbium ion (Er 3+ ) doped glassy materials since they exhibit intense emission transitions such as 2 H 11/2 ! 4 I 15/2 , 4 S 3/2 ! 4 I 15/2 , 4 F 9/2 ! 4 I 15/2 and 4 I 13/2 ! 4 I 15/2 which could be useful in temperature sensors, solar cell and in the telecommunication field as broadband amplifiers for the S (1480-1520 nm), C (1527-1563 nm) and L (1570-1610 nm) band regions. [3] In addition, trivalent erbium doped glassy materials are very useful for eye safe lasers, particularly for fiber amplifiers in the wavelength division-multiplexing (WDM) communication networks. [4][5][6] After searching several hosts, lead borosilicate (LBS) glass is identified as a suitable host because of low phonon energy, good transparency and large rare earth ion solubility. In these multi-components, boron trioxide (B 2 O 3 ) is a good glass former and provides ultra fine trans...
