Visible and near infra-red up-conversion in Tm3+/Yb3+ co-doped silica fibres under 980 nm excitation

David A. Simpson (1) , Keith W.E. Gibbs (2) , Stephen F. Collins (1) , Wilfried Blanc (3) , Bernard Dussardier (3) , Gérard Monnom (3) , Pavel Peterka (4) , Gregory W. Baxter (1)

1 OTRL - Optical Technology Research Laboratory
2 CAOUS - Centre for Atom Optics and Ultrafast Spectroscopy
3 LPMC - Laboratoire de physique de la matière condensée
4 IPE - Institute of Photonics and Electronics

The spectroscopic properties of Tm3+/Yb3+ co-doped silica fibers under excitation at 980 nm are reported. Three distinct up-conversion fluorescence bands were observed in the visible to near infra-red regions. The blue and red fluorescence bands at 475 and 650 nm, respectively, were found to originate from the 1G4 level of Tm3+. A three step up-conversion process was established as the populating mechanism for these fluorescence bands. The fluorescence band at 800 nm was found to originate from two possible transitions in Tm3+; one being the transition from the 3H4 to 3H6 manifold which was found to dominate at low pump powers; the other being the transition from the 1G4 to 3H6 level which dominates at higher pump powers. The fluorescence lifetime of the 3H4 and 3F4 levels of Tm3+ and 2F5/2 level of Yb3+ were studied as a function of Yb3+ concentration, with no significant energy back transfer from Tm3+ to Yb3+ observed.

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

David A. Simpson, Keith W.E. Gibbs, Stephen F. Collins, Wilfried Blanc, Bernard Dussardier, et al.. Visible and near infra-red up-conversion in Tm3+/Yb3+ co-doped silica fibres under 980 nm excitation. Optics Express, 2008, 16 (18), pp.13781-13799. ⟨hal-00315459⟩