Mid‐infrared luminesce of ZnS:Cr²⁺‐glass composite and fiber

Abstract

Cr2+‐doped materials with mid‐infrared (Mid‐IR) broadband luminescence are of fundamental importance for various applications, such as solid‐state lasers technology, biolabeling, optical telecommunication, and solar energy management. Especially, Cr2+‐doped glass has been considered as one of important material candidates. The major challenge is the precipitation of crystals doped with Cr2+ ions in glass. So, “crystals in glass composite” is an effective method to solve this issue. Here, we describe a ZnS:Cr2+ in borophosphate glass composite (CZPB) which exhibits Mid‐IR luminescence in the region from 1700 to 2900 nm with the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of about 690 nm. In addition, the materials can also be fabricated into fiber without obvious change in the characteristic luminescence band. The results provide new opportunities for the construction of the broadband fiber light source operating at Mid‐IR waveband region.