Formation, near-infrared luminescence and multi-wavelength optical amplification of PbS quantum dot-embedded silicate glasses

Optical properties of PbS quantum dot (QD)-embedded silicate glasses prepared through post annealing were investigated. By modulating the heat treatment condition, tunable near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescence (PL) was obtained. Noticeable optical amplification was achieved at both 1330 nm and 1550 nm windows with similar amplification characteristics in single PbS QD-embedded glass, which indicated that broadband optical amplification is expected at the entire PL band of PbS QD-embedded glass. The PbS QD-embedded glass with multi-wavelength optical amplification is promising as the gain medium of broadband fiber amplifiers and tunable fiber lasers.