Structural and optical properties of sol-gel derived aluminosilicate planar waveguides doped with Er3+ ions

Er3+ doped-aluminosilicate thin films were prepared on silica and silica/Si substrates by the sol-gel process and dip-coating. The sol-gel aluminosili cate planar waveguides were prepared from silicon and aluminium alkoxides. Their structural characterization has been carried out by Raman spectroscop y, Atomic Force and Scanning Electron Microscopies. The results indicated t hat these films present an amorphous structure until an annealing temperatu re of 900 degrees C, while at temperatures higher than 1000 degrees C, crys tallization occurs. An estimate of microcrystallite sizes using Raman spect roscopy is given, which agrees with data from scanning electron microscopy. The optical properties have been investigated by Fluorescence spectroscopy in the visible region.