High pressure photoluminescence of bismuth-doped yttria-alumina-silica glass

ABSTRACT We report the effects of high pressure, up to 10.45 GPa, on the photoluminescence of Bi-doped yttria-alumina-silica glass under 532 nm excitation. We identify three emission bands attributed to Bi3+, Bi+ and a NIR emitting Bi centre, BiNIR. As the pressure is increased up to ∼6 GPa, an irreversible discontinuity in the trend for emission band energies indicates that an irreversible structural modification occurs. This irreversible discontinuity results in the peak energy of emission bands attributed to Bi+ and BiNIR shifting from those typical of Bi-doped oxide glasses to those observed in Bi-doped gallium-lanthanum-sulfide glass. The Bi3+ emission band can be almost eliminated at ∼6 GPa, but its intensity increases rapidly as the pressure is further increased. The ability we report here to irreversibly modify the emission of Bi-doped glass using pressure treatment adds an extra processing technique to researchers looking to optimize the emission from Bi-doped glasses.