Near-infrared emission from Pr-doped borophosphate glass for broadband telecommunication

Broadband near-infrared emission from Pr-doped borophosphate glass was investigated. The emission band had three peaks centered at ∼1040, 1163, and 1470 nm with full widths at half maximum of 108, 147, and 205 nm, respectively. These figures cover the entire spectrum of fiber-optic communication bands. The emission lifetimes at 1040, 1163, and 1470 nm were 68, 321, and 68 μs respectively. The product στ of stimulated emission cross-section (σ) and lifetime (τ) was 3.44×10−23 cm2 s. These results indicate that the Pr-doped glass can be used as an amplification medium for tunable lasers and broadband optical amplifiers for wavelength division multiplexing transmission system applications.