Photoluminescence modelling of lanthanide doped, low phonon energy glasses

Lanthanide ion doped glass materials find many applications in photonics. In recent years a particular attention has been drawn to lanthanide ion doped low phonon energy glasses and their potential application as amplifiers and lasers delivering mid-infrared coherent light. We present a comprehensive study of the photoluminescence measured from chalcogenide glass samples doped with praseodymium ions. The study includes Judd-Ofelt analysis and simulations performed consistently on the basis of the rate equations approach. The results allow for estimating the actual efficiency of the particular radiative transitions and also for extracting the parameters characterising the non-radiative processes.