Rare earth‐doped glasses find applications in numerous photonic devices including color displays, infrared solid‐state lasers, and indicators, among many. In this chapter, we will present and discuss several luminescent glasses doped with rare earth ions in their trivalent form (RE3+) with general background and technological perspectives. Initially, we begin with a short introduction of RE3+ electronic energy‐level structure in solids followed by the discussion of structural feature of glass lasers. While the lasing properties are mainly governed by the solubility of the ions and phonon interactions, the issue of ion interactions in solid hosts will be addressed since they hardly depend on the type of materials. Spectroscopic properties of Nd3+‐doped phosphate glasses are discussed in the framework of Judd‐Ofelt theory. Rare earth‐doped optical amplifiers are tackled from a technological point of view, as well as luminescent solar concentrators for enhancement of solar efficiency.
Part of the book: Luminescence