Because of ultra-broadband luminescence in 1000-1700 nm and consequent applications in fiber amplifier and lasers in the new spectral range where traditional rare earth cannot work, bismuth-doped laser glasses have received rising interest recently. For long-term practical application, thermal degradation must be considered for the glasses. This, however, has seldom been investigated. Here we report the thermal degradation of bismuth-doped germanate glass. Heating and cooling cycle experiments at high temperature reveal strong dependence of the thermal degradation on glass compositions. Bismuth and tantalum lead to the reversible degradation, while lithium can produce permanent irreversible degradation. The degradation becomes worse as lithium content increases in the glass. Absorption spectra show this is due to partial oxidation of bismuth near-infrared emission center. Surprisingly, we notice the emission of bismuth exhibits blueshift, rather than redshift at a higher temperature, and the blueshift can be suppressed by increasing the lithium content. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America
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