Pr-doped mixed-halide glasses for 1300 nm amplification

The pump efficiency of Pr-doped fluorozirconate amplifiers at 1300 nm is limited by nonradiative decay. A Pr/sup 3+1/G
₄
excited state lifetime of 322 μs has been obtained in a mixed-halide glass. This is 2.9 times longer than the lifetime in a fluorozirconate host. Numerical amplifier modeling combined with calculated emission cross sections predicts a comparable increase in amplifier pump efficiency. The mixed-halide
¹
G
₄
emission is peaked at 1310 nm.