(INVITED)Mid-infrared photoluminescence in Ce3+ doped selenide-chalcogenide glass and fiber

We provide measurements to support our earlier report of continuous wave fiber lasing in a small core Ce3+-doped selenide chalcogenide SIF (step index fiber) of core: Ge-As-Ga-Se chalcogenide glass, doped with 500 ppmw (parts-per-million by weight) of cerium (III). In-band pumping of Ce3+ in fiber, bulk glass and ground glass geometries, at 4.15 μm wavelength, gives MIR (mid-infrared) photoluminescence spanning 3.40–5.80 μm wavelength, corresponding to the 2F5/2 ← 2F7/2 electronic emission transition due to Ce3+. Room temperature emission and MIR absorption spectra together enable interpretation of the manifold energies of the first excited state and there is potential for occupied Stark levels in the ground state at room temperature. Both ‘τrad’ (PL lifetime) and ‘trise’ (rise-time through 10% to 90% of maximum PL intensity) are determined: for ground glass at 4.60 μm wavelength, the best decay fit comprises a primary, and perhaps secondary, lifetime for ground glass of 3.5 ms, and 1.2 ms, and PL rise time of 3.9 ms.