Abstract
In this paper, the tellurite glasses76.4Te(O2)-12Nb(2)O(5)- 12.6ZnO doped with 3000ppm Tm2O3 ions were prepared by conventional melt quenching method. The optical properties of the glasses were estimated by measuring UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy in the range from 200 to 2500 nm and linear refractive indices (n) at different wavelength was estimated. From the absorption edge studies, the value of optical band gap (E-opt) was determined. Moreover, the nonlinear refractive index (n(2)). third-order nonlinear susceptibility (x((3))), and nonlinear absorption coefficient, (/g=b/), were observed. It is noticed that (n(2)),X-(3) and /g=b/ increase by decreasing the value of optical band gap (E-opt). The classical McCumber theory was used to evaluate the emission cross-sections for the F-3(4) > H-3(6) transition at a wavelength of around 2/g=m//m. Gain cross-section for the Tm3+ laser transition F-3(4)-> H-3(6) was obtained. These glasses have the effective emission cross section bandwidth (108 nm) and large stimulated emission cross-section (28.3X < 1(-)"(21)cm(2)). Spectroscopic properties indicate that these glasses doped with Tm3+ are a promising candidate for optical applications and may be suitable for optical fibre lasers and amplifiers. Furthermore, the structures of these glasses were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy.