A series of novel Er3+-doped bismuth-germanate glasses containing different tungsten concentrations with a molar composition of 97.5[(75 - x)GeO2-25Bi2O3-(x)WO3]-2Sb2O3-0.5Er2O3 (x = 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 mol%) were fabricated. Their thermal properties are measured by differential scanning calorimetry. A structural investigation by Raman spectroscopy suggested that changes occurred in the glass network by WO3 incorporation. By laser excitation at 980 nm, a strong emission from Er3+ ions at 1532 nm is observed, while the WO3 addition caused changes in the emission spectra. The emission cross-section spectra of Er3+ are calculated by both McCumber and Füchtbauer-Ladenburg theories and their comparison showed these theories yielded slightly different results, but in both cases, the calculations showed that a gain signal in L-band can be achieved when 30% of the Er3+ ions are at the excited state. This study proves that the Er3+-doped bismuth-germanate glasses are suitable for optical fiber amplifier applications operating at C- and L-band.
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