Ytterbium doped heavy metal oxide glasses with high emission cross-section

Higher values of emission cross-section ( σ e) were obtained from the Yb 3+-doped M 2O(K 2O + Na 2O + Li 2O)–Ga 2O 3–Nb 2O 5 and M 2O(K 2O + Na 2O + Li 2O)–Ga 2O 3–Ta 2O 5 heavy metal oxide (HMO) glasses. All the calculated σ e values of Yb 3+ are larger than 1.31 (±0.05) pm 2, which are the best results ever reported. The highest value reached 1.6194 (±0.03) pm 2 in the 40M 2O(K 2O + Na 2O + Li 2O)–30Ga 2O 3–30Nb 2O system. These results are attributed to the synergetic effect of disorders of geometric position and electric field surrounding Yb 3+. Furthermore, the merits of the present Yb 3+-doped HMO glasses demonstrate that these glasses are of promising materials for laser applications.