Effective enhanced 3.1 μm mid-infrared emission of Er³⁺/Yb³⁺ co-doped tellurite glasses introduced Ag nanoparticles

In this work, Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) were attempted and introduced for the first time for Er³⁺/Yb³⁺ co-doping tellurite glasses and the 3.1 μm fluorescence emission was enhanced, which corresponds to Er³⁺:⁴S_3/2→⁴F_9/2 transition. Combining X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectrum, and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) tests, performance characterization results revealed that the prepared glass samples exhibited good thermal stability and resistance to crystallization. Under a 980 nm laser diode (LD) pumping, Er³⁺/Yb³⁺ co-doped tellurite glasses exhibit a certain intensity of infrared fluorescence emission. On the basis of this, the introduction of AgNPs enhances the emission intensity of 1.5 and 3.1 μm by 150% and 58%, respectively, which may be due to the local electric field enhancement caused by the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of AgNPs to transfer energy to Er³⁺ ions. In addition, a broadband fluorescence emission at 3.1 μm is detected, in which the full width at half maximum (FWHM) is 212 nm. The findings signify that Er³⁺/Yb³⁺/AgNPs triple-doped tellurite glasses possess considerable potential for application in 3.1 μm mid-infrared optical materials.