C. Strohhofer et al., ACTIVE OPTICAL-PROPERTIES OF ER-CONTAINING CRYSTALLITES IN SOL-GEL DERIVED GLASS-FILMS, Journal of non-crystalline solids, 226(1-2), 1998, pp. 182-191
Thin films of controlled refractive index are prepared by sol-gel proc
essing and thick multilayer deposits are used as planar waveguides for
integrated optics (IO). By doping these layers with rare-earth ions s
uch as Nd3+ or Er3+, IO devices such as lasers or amplifiers can be fa
bricated; the incorporation of these active elements into crystallites
offers possibilities for increased dopant concentration without quenc
hing, improved spectroscopic performance and high gain. The controlled
growth of crystallites such as Er2Ti2O7 or ErPO4 in SiO2-TiO2 based s
ol-gel films through suitable heat treatments is described. The growth
of crystallites was measured by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction.
Doping of the glass matrix with Er-containing crystallites improved th
e Er fluorescence lifetime of the 1.55-mu m transition, in some cases
by more than 200%. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.