Effect of Er2O3 and gold nanoparticles on luminescence behavior of borosilicate glasses for gain bandwidth on telecommunication material application

Effect of Er2O3 and gold nanoparticles on luminescence behavior of borosilicate glasses have been investigated. The chemical compositions of SiO2, B2O3, Al2O3, CaO, Sb2O3, Na2O, K2O, Er2O3 and AuNPs were synthesized by traditional melting and quenching technique and the physical, optical and luminescence properties of the borosilicate glasses were measured. The results showed that the density, molar volume, and refractive index also increased with increasing Er2O3 concentration. The optical absorption spectra of glasses were measured in the range of 200–2000 nm. The surface plasmon resonance of AuNPs peaks are activated at 522 nm resonating with radiative transitions of Er2O3 ions. The intensity of absorption spectra increased with the increasing concentration of Er2O3 content in the sample while the intensity of glass samples doped with AuNPs show higher than without AuNPs. The emission spectra in visible region showed peaks at 535, 560 nm and 661 nm. These peaks correspond to the transition from 4I15/2 → 2H11/2, 4S3/2 and 4F9/2 states under 380 nm excitation. The near-infrared region also exhibited a broad peak at 1547 nm originating to 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transition of Er3+ ions. In addition, the luminescence of Er3+ ions enhanced by addition of AuNPs observed in visible range, but it had the opposite effect in near-infrared range.