Spectroscopic properties of highly concentrated Nd3-doped antimony-phosphate glass for microchip lasers

The alkaline antimony-phosphate glass doped with Nd 3+ was synthesized under different conditions with the controlled content of OH groups. The Nd 2 O 3 concentration varied in the range of 0.2–2.0 mol %; the Sb 2 O 5 concentration was 20 mol %. The absorption and Nd 3+ ion luminescence spectra and the absorption spectra of OH groups were obtained. Quenching of the Nd 3+ ion luminescence depending on the Nd 2 O 3 and OH group concentrations was studied. It was found that the optimized spectroscopic and kinetic parameters of glass (emission cross section, emission width, radiative lifetime) are close to the parameters of the SCHOTT GLAS industrial laser glass. It was shown that the immediate environment of Nd 3+ ions is formed by phosphate polyhedra.