Controllable optical modulation of blue/green up-conversion fluorescence from Tm3+ (Er3+) single-doped glass ceramics upon two-step excitation of two-wavelengths

Abstract

Optical modulation is a crucial operation in photonics for network data processing with the aim to overcome information bottleneck in terms of speed, energy consumption, dispersion and cross-talking from conventional electronic interconnection approach. However, due to the weak interactions between photons, a facile physical approach is required to efficiently manipulate photon-photon interactions. Herein, we demonstrate that transparent glass ceramics containing LaF3: Tm3+ (Er3+) nanocrystals can enable fast-slow optical modulation of blue/green up-conversion fluorescence upon two-step excitation of two-wavelengths at telecom windows (0.8–1.8 μm). We show an optical modulation of more than 1500% (800%) of the green (blue) up-conversion fluorescence intensity, and fast response of 280 μs (367 μs) as well as slow response of 5.82 ms (618 μs) in the green (blue) up-conversion fluorescence signal, respectively. The success of manipulating laser at telecom windows for fast-slow optical modulation from rear-earth single-doped glass ceramics may find application in all-optical fiber telecommunication areas.

Instant precipitation of KMgF3:Ni2+ nanocrystals with broad emission (1.3‐2.2 μm) for potential combustion gas sensors

“…For example, C 2 H 4 can be detected at around 1.0 μm, NH 3 at 1.5 μm, or CO around 5 μm . While the MIR spectral range remains difficult to access with native laser sources, there are mature devices on account of rare earth (RE) functionalized fiber lasers for the lower NIR regime . Also for the transitional range of 1.5‐2 μm, there is still a lack of emission sources with sufficiently high bandwidth.…”

“…Glass‐ceramics are composite materials which are fabricated through the controlled precipitation of crystals in a glassy matrix . This is usually done to combine advantageous properties of a crystalline phase (here: photoluminescence) with the versatile processing ability of glass‐forming liquids . In particular, the precipitation of nanoscale halogenide or oxy‐halogenide crystals (mostly fluorides) from oxide matrices has been attracting considerable interest due to the high dopant solubility and relative low‐phonon‐energy of the halogenide crystal .…”

“…[4][5][6] While the MIR spectral range remains difficult to access with native laser sources, there are mature devices on account of rare earth (RE) functionalized fiber lasers for the lower NIR regime. [19][20][21][22] Also for the transitional range of 1.5-2 lm, there is still a lack of emission sources with sufficiently high bandwidth. For example, this addresses gases such as C 2 H 6 (~1.6 lm), CH 4 (1.65 lm), H 2 CO (1.7 lm), and NO (1.9 lm), relevant in air pollution control, mining, and industrial emissions.…”

“…[34][35][36][37] This is usually done to combine advantageous properties of a crystalline phase (here: photoluminescence) with the versatile processing ability of glassforming liquids. 22,38,39 In particular, the precipitation of nanoscale halogenide or oxy-halogenide crystals (mostly fluorides) from oxide matrices has been attracting considerable interest due to the high dopant solubility and relative low-phonon-energy of the halogenide crystal. [40][41][42][43][44] Furthermore, smaller crystal field splitting is usually expected in fluoride environment relative to oxides, 25,30,31 enabling alternative electronic transitions in the low-field regime.…”

Fabrication and optical thermometry of transparent glass‐ceramics containing Ag@NaGdF4: Er3+ core‐shell nanocrystals

“…8 Fluoride glass-ceramics have advantages over oxide glass-ceramics due to their phonon energy and intense emission intensity, and are widely used as laser gain media in high-power laser applications to achieve multicolor emissions. 9,10 The NaGdF 4 has been reported to have high solid solubility with rare earth ions. 11 So the NaGdF 4 glass-ceramics doped with Tm 3+ , Er 3+ , and Ho 3+ emitted the intense upconversion luminescence.…”