Abstract

We have shown that the broadband near-IR (NIR) fluorescence recently discovered in Bi-doped glasses is not specific due solely to Bi ions. Glasses doped with different $6p$ (Bi, Pb) and $5p$ (Sn, Sb) ions exhibit very similar behavior characterized by four major spectral peaks observed in two-dimensional excitation–emission plots and the lifetime of metastable level of about $400\mu \mathrm{s}$. Our results challenge the existing models of optical centers in Bi-doped glasses. Point defect optical centers caused by the presence of $6p$ (Bi, Pb) and $5p$ (Sn, Sb) ions are proposed for the explanation of NIR emission in these laser materials.

© 2008 Optical Society of America

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