γ irradiation induced effects on bismuth active centres and related photoluminescence properties of Bi/Er co-doped optical fibres

We investigate the effects of γ irradiation on bismuth active centres (BACs) and related photoluminescence properties of bismuth/erbium co-doped silica fibre (BEDF), [Si] ~28, [Ge] ~1.60, [Al] ~0.10, [Er] ~ <0.10 and [Bi] ~0.10 atom%, fabricated by in-situ solution doping and Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition (MCVD). The samples were irradiated at 1 kGy, 5 kGy, 15 kGy, 30 kGy and 50 kGy doses, and dose rate of 5.5 kGy/h, at room temperature. The optical properties of BEDF samples are tested before and after γ irradiation. We found that high dose γ irradiation could significantly influence the formation and composition of BACs and their photoluminescence performance, as important changes in absorption and emission properties associated with the 830 nm pump produces the direct evidence of γ irradiation effects on BAC-Si. We notice that the saturable to unsaturable absorption ratio at pump wavelength could be increased with high dose γ irradiation, indicating that emission and pump efficiency could be increased by γ irradiation. Our experimental results also reveal good radiation survivability of the BEDF under low and moderate γ irradiation. Our investigation suggests the existence of irradiation related processing available for tailoring the photoluminescence properties and performance of bismuth doped/co-doped fibres.