  Thulium-doped optical fibre amplifiers (TDFA) are developed to extend the
optical telecommunication wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) bandwidth in
the so-called S-band (1460-1530 nm). The radiative transition at 1.47 lm (3H4
-> 3F4) competes with a non-radiative multi-phonon de-excitation (3H4 -> 3H5).
The quantum efficiency of the transition of interest is then highly affected by
the phonon energy (Ep) of the material. For reliability reasons, oxide glasses
are preferred but suffer from high phonon energy. In the case of silica glass,
Ep is around 1100 cm-1 and quantum efficiency is as low as 2%. To improve it,
phonon energy in the thulium environment must be lowered. For that reason,
aluminium is added and we explore three different core compositions: pure
silica, and silica slightly modified with germanium or phosphorus. The role of
aluminium is studied through fluorescence decay curves, fitted according to the
continuous function decay analysis. From this analysis, modification of the
thulium local environment due to aluminium is evidenced.
