Enhanced near-infrared emission from holmium-ytterbium co-doped phosphate glasses containing silver nanoparticles.

The fabrication and spectroscopic characterization of Ho(3+) and Yb(3+) co-doped phosphate glasses, also containing silver nanoparticles (SNPs), is reported. The nucleation and formation of nanoparticle structures in the samples are confirmed using transmission electron microscopy analyses. It is found that the Ho(3+)-Yb(3+)-SNP phosphate glasses exhibit an enhancement of both the resonant-absorption and the fluorescence properties when the SNP concentration is increased.