Effect of residual chlorine on fluorescence emission of Dy3+ doped chalcogenide glasses with low gallium content

Chlorine or chlorides are usually used as a dehydrating agent for removing the O-H or S(Se)-H in the preparation of high-purity chalcogenide glasses. However, the residual chlorine in some rare-earth ions doped chalcogenide glasses was found to have a great negative impact on fluorescence emission. In this work, the effect of residual chlorine on the fluorescence emission of Dy3+ ions in serial (Ge)GaAsSbS glasses was studied quantitatively, and the reasons were discussed. Cl-2 gas and SbCl3 were used as the source of chlorine and their residual contents were controlled by the post-distillation process and added content, respectively. The results can give some suggestions for how to eliminate the negative effects of chlorine and improve the glass' optical gain properties.