LAUSR

Borosilicate glasses doped with PbSe quantum dots (QDs) were prepared by a conventional melt-quenching process followed by heat treatment, which exhibit good thermal, chemical and mechanical stabilities, and are amenable to fiber-drawing. A broad near infrared (NIR) photoluminescence (PL) emission (1070–1330 nm) band with large full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) values (189–266 nm) and notable Stokes shift (100–210 nm) was observed, which depended on the B2O3 concentration. The PL lifetime was about 1.42–2.44 μs, and it showed a clear decrease with increasing the QDs size. The planar [BO3] triangle units forming the two-dimensional (2D) glass network structure clearly increased with increasing B2O3 concentration, which could accelerate the movement of Pb2+ and Se2- ions and facilitate the growth of PbSe QDs. The tunable broadband NIR PL emission of the PbSe QD-doped borosilicate glass may find potential application in ultra-wideband fiber amplifiers. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.