Tellurite glasses for 1.3 mu m optical amplifiers

Praseodymium (Pr3+)-doped tellurite glasses suitable for planar waveguide d evice applications at 1.3 mu m operation have been fabricated and character ized optically. The maximum phonon band of undoped glasses is at 738 cm(-1) , and the emission from the Pr3+: (1)G(4) --> H-3(5) transition is at 1.33 mu m wavelength with a spectral bandwidth of 100 nm. The lifetime of the (1 )G(4) level is similar to 24 mu s, and the quantum efficiency is similar to 2.6%, which is similar to that in fluorozirconate glasses. (C) 1999 Publis hed by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.