Tm3+-doped fluorophosphate glasses with varying Ba(PO3)(2) content were prepared by the melt quenching technique and their thermal and optical properties were investigated by studying differential scanning calorimetry, Raman spectra, fluorescence spectra, decay curves, transmission and absorption spectra. The Judd-Ofelt theory was applied to calculate the intensity parameters of the resultant glass. The glass forming criterion was obtained to be 146 degrees C. The gain coefficient and fluorescence lifetime of Tm3+-doped fluorophosphate glass with 20 mol% Ba(PO3)(2) were 3.045 x 10(-21) cm(2) x ms and 0.406 ms, respectively, which are the highest value among the fluorophosphate glasses with similar components to the best of our knowledge. These results clearly indicate that the prepared fluorophosphate glass is an attractive candidate for 2 mu m lasers and as a gain media for optical amplifier applications. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement