Exploring the Impact of Plasmonic Nanoparticles on Photoluminescence of Er³⁺ - Doped Sodium Zinc Tellurite Glass for Solid-State Laser Applications

Abstract

The present work compares the impact of embedding silver (Ag), gold (Au), titanium (Ti), and titanium nitride (TiN) nanoparticles (NPs) on the absorption, photoluminescence, and Judd Ofelt properties of erbium-doped sodium zinc tellurite glass (TNZE), known as reliable solid-state laser media. Ten absorption bands of Er3+ ions in the range of 400-1600 nm are attainable where their bands correspond to their own 4f transitions. Three prominent photoluminescence (PL) bands of Er3+ ions were observed at approximately 525 nm, 545 nm, and 630 nm, corresponding to the transitions 2H11/2®4I15/2, 4S3/2®4I15/2 and 4F9/2®4I15/2, respectively. TZNE with 0.15 mol% of TiN NP inclusion showed the highest PL enhancement factor about 35 times, followed by Ti (17 times), Ag (10 times), and Au NPs (5 times), accordingly. This enhanced PL can be attributed to the strong local field induced by the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of the plasmonic NPs lies within 490-630 nm, which assists the transitions of Er3+ ions. The Judd Ofelt parameter was calculated and the TNZE glass with 0.15 mol% of TiN NPs inclusion disclosed the highest spectroscopic quality with a value of 3.57, compared to the TNZE glass with Ti (1.19), Au (0.59), and Ag NPs (0.90) inclusions. This research revealed several potential glass compositions with plasmonic nanoparticles that are attractive for the development of solid-state laser materials.