Enhanced 2 µm Mid‐Infrared Laser Output from Tm³⁺‐Activated Glass Ceramic Microcavities

Abstract

Transparent glass ceramics (GCs) consisting of an homogeneous glass phase and a well-dispersed crystal phase are considered as ideal optical gain materials potentially applied in optoelectronic devices due to the combination of facile processability of glass and the intense crystal field of nanocrystals. Here, a heat-induced nanocrystal-in-glass method is employed to integrate the active ions Tm 3+ into Bi 2 Te 4 O 11 nanocrystals with an intense crystal field to realize an enhanced microlaser output. This strategy endows the efficient tellurate GC microcavity laser operating at ≈2 µm. Compared with the laser properties of as-prepared glass microcavities, the pump threshold (260 µW) is as low as less than a quarter and the slope efficiency (0.0296%) is 5.5 times higher. Furthermore, by carefully engineering the heat treatment temperature and duration, the crystal size and distribution can be precisely controlled. Thus, the Rayleigh scattering loss that is detrimental to quality (Q) factor is effectively suppressed and the GC microcavities with high Q factors up to 10 5 are successfully obtained. This work provides useful insight on the development of optical functional materials and expands the practical applications of GC microcavities in various optoelectronic fields.

Tm3+/Cr3+ Codoped Dual‐Phase Transparent Glass‐Ceramics for Light Conversion in Photosynthesis

“…[ 34 ] Under 358 nm excitation, the GC–Tm/Cr sample also exhibits two emission peaks locating at 454 nm ( 1 D 2 → 3 F 4 ) and 480 nm ( 1 G 4 → 3 H 6 ), respectively (Figure 5b). [ 35,36 ] A sharp excitation peak at 358 nm was also observed monitoring at 454 nm. [ 37 ] Therefore, the ultraviolet and green light that are useless to photosynthesis can be converted into the red and blue emission regions simultaneously and reabsorption by photosynthetic pigment.…”

Intense continuous‐wave laser and mode‐locked pulse operation from Yb3+‐doped oxyfluoride glass–ceramic fibers

“…It has been demonstrated that the optical performance of active centers is strongly affected by the coordination environment. The photoluminescence efficiency can be significantly improved when the active centers transfer from an amorphous glass host to a crystal with low phonon energy 14–17 . Therefore, glass–ceramic (GC), especially oxyfluoride GC, which combines the merits of the excellent fiber‐drawing ability of glass host and prominent optical properties of fluoride nanocrystal, is considered an ideal candidate for the development of high‐performance fiber laser devices 18–21 .…”

“…The photoluminescence efficiency can be significantly improved when the active centers transfer from an amorphous glass host to a crystal with low phonon energy. [14][15][16][17] Therefore, glass-ceramic (GC), especially oxyfluoride GC, which combines the merits of the excellent fiber-drawing ability of glass host and prominent optical properties of fluoride nanocrystal, is considered an ideal candidate for the development of high-performance fiber laser devices. [18][19][20][21] During the crystallization process, the as-prepared glass (AG) is heat-treated around the onset crystallization temperature to facilitate the in situ precipitation of nanocrystals and a selective entry of active ions into crystalline lattice.…”

Enhanced CW Lasing and Q‐Switched Pulse Generation Enabled by Tm3+‐Doped Glass Ceramic Fibers

“…The emission efficiency can be remarkably enhanced when the active ions move from a disordered amorphous glass matrix to an ordered rigid crystalline host due to the surpression of nonradiative decay process. [ 17–19 ] Therefore, a glass‐ceramic (GC) strategy combining the advantages of excellent fiber‐drawing ability of glass matrix and superior optical performance of nanocrystal has appear to be an ideal choice for the development of high‐performance optical fiber devices. [ 20–22 ] However, the widely used rod‐in‐tube method for the fabrication of glass optical fibers is not amenable to process low loss glass ceramic fibers (GCF).…”