CO-DOPING EFFECTS IN RARE-EARTH-DOPED PLANAR WAVE-GUIDES

Results on rare-earth-doped lasers and amplifiers in planar silica wav eguides fabricated by flame hydrolysis deposition (FHD) and reactive i on etching (RIE) are presented. The authors review their results on th e optimisation of doping levels, co-dopant species, fusing temperature , fusing time and glass composition to reduce both scatter loss and io n-ion interactions. Two different doping techniques have been investig ated and the planar films produced by each are compared. These glasses have been used to produce waveguide lasers in both Nd3+ and Er3+ dope d silica.