New approaches for enhancing light emission from Er-based materials and devices

In this work, we present some approaches recently developed for enhancing light emission from Er-based materials and devices. We have investigated the luminescence quenching processes limiting quantum efficiency in light-emitting devices based on Si nanoclusters (Si nc) or Er-doped Si nc. It is found that carrier injection, while needed to excite Si nc or Er ions through electron-hole recombination, at the same time produces an efficient non-radiative Auger de-excitation with trapped carriers. A strong light confinement and enhancement of Er emission at 1.54 μm in planar silicon-on-insulator waveguides containing a thin layer (slot) of SiO2 with Er-doped Si nc at the center of the Si core has been obtained. By measuring the guided photoluminescence from the cleaved edge of the sample, we have observed a more than fivefold enhancement of emission for the transverse magnetic mode over the transverse electric one at room temperature. Slot waveguides have also been integrated with a photonic crystal (PhC), consisting of a triangular lattice of holes. An enhancement by more than two orders of magnitude of the Er near-normal emission is observed when the transition is in resonance with an appropriate mode of the PhC slab. Finally, in order to increase the concentration of excitable Er ions, a completely different approach, based on Er disilicate thin films, has been explored. Under proper annealing conditions crystalline and chemically stable Er2Si2O7 films are obtained; these films exhibit a strong luminescence at 1.54 μm owing to the efficient reduction of the defect density. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Erbium doped materials for a Si-based microphotonics

We have investigated the role of the Si excess on the photoluminescence properties of Er doped substoichiometric SiOx layers. We demonstrate that the Si excess has two competing roles: when agglomerated to form Si nanoclusters (Si-nc) it enhances the Er excitation efficiency but it also introduces new non-radiative decay channels. When Er is excited through an energy transfer from Si-nc, the beneficial effect on the enhanced excitation efficiency prevails and the Er emission increases with increasing Si content. Nevertheless the maximum excited Er fraction is only of the order of percent. In order to increase the concentration of excited Er ions, a different approach based on Er silicate thin film has been explored. Under proper annealing conditions, an efficient luminescence at 1535 nm is found and all of the Er ions in the material is optically active. The possibility to efficiently excite Er ions also through electron-hole mediated processes is demonstrated in nanometer-scale Er-Si-O/Si multilayers. These data are presented and discussed.

Influence of coupling between Er3+, nc-Si and nonradiative centers on photoluminescence from Er3+-doped nc-Si/SiO2 films

Con-elation between nc-Si, Er3+ and nonradiative defects in Er-doped nc-Si/SiO2 films is studied. Upon the 514.5 run laser excitation, the samples exhibit a nanocrystal-related spectrum centered at around 750 nm and an Er3+ luminescence line at 1.54mum. With increasing Er3+ content in the films,the Er3+ emission becomes intense while the photoluminescence at 750 nm decreases. Hydrogen passivation of the samples is shown to result in increases of the two luminescence peaks. However, the effect of hydrogen treatment is different for the samples annealed at different temperatures. The experimental results show that the coupling between Er3+, nc-Si and noradiative centers has a great influence on photoluminescence from nc-Si/SiO2 < Er > films.

1.5 mu m luminescence characteristic of erbium in B, P doped a-SiO : H films

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon films co-doped with oxygen (O), boron (B) and phosphorus (P) were fabricated using PECVD technique. The erbium (Er) implanted samples were annealed in a N-2 ambient by rapid thermal annealing. Strong photoluminescence (PL) spectra of these samples were observed at room temperature. The incorporation of O, B and P could not only enhance the PL intensity but also the thermal annealing temperature of the strongest PL intensity. It seems that the incorporation of B or P can decrease the grain boundary potential barriers thus leading to an easier movement of carriers and a stronger PL intensity. Temperature dependence of PL indicated the thermal quenching of Er-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon is very weak.

Photoluminescence of erbium-doped hydrogenated amorphous SiOx(0 < x < 2)

Hydrogenated amorphous SiOx films are fabricated via plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. After erbium implantation and rapid thermal annealing, photoluminescence (PL) are measured at 77 K and room temperature (RT), respectively. We observed the strong PL at 1.54 mu m at RT. The 1.54 mu m PL intensity changes with the variation of concentration of oxygen. The most intense PL at 77 K in a-SiOx:H (Er) corresponds to O/Si = 1.0 and at RT to O/Si = 1.76. Based on our results, we propose that Er ions contributed to PL come from O-rich region in the film. Er ions in Si-rich region have no relation with FL. Temperature dependence of the intensity of the 1.54 mu m line of the Er3+ transition displays a very weak temperature quenching in Er-doped hydrogenated amorphous Si. The PL intensity at 250 K is a little more one half of that at 15 K.

Mechanism on exciton-mediated energy transfer in erbium-doped silicon

Exciton-mediated energy transfer model in Er-doped silicon was presented. The emission intensity is related to optically active Er concentration, lifetime of excited Er3+ ion and spontaneous emission. The thermal quenching of the Er luminescence in Si is caused by thermal ionization of Er-bound exciton complex and nonradiative energy back-transfer processes, which correspond to the activation energy of 6.6 and 47.4 meV, respectively. Er doping in silicon introduces donor states, a large enhancement in the electrical activation of Er (up to two orders of magnitude) is obtained by co-implanting Er with O. It appears that the donor states are the gateway to the optically active Er. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Preparation and characterization of erbium doped sol-gel silica glasses

Erbium-doped silica glasses were made by sol-gel process. Intensive photoluminescence (PL) spectra from the Er-doped silica glasses at room temperature were measured. A broadband peak at 1535 ma, corresponding to the I-4(13/2)-I-4(15/2) transition, its full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 10 nm, and a shoulder at 1546 nm in the PL spectra were observed. At lower temperatures, main line of 1535 nm and another line of 1552 Mn instead of 1546 nm appear. So two types of luminescence centers must exist in the samples at different temperature. The intensity of main line does not decrease obviously with increasing temperature. By varying the Er ion concentration in the range of 0.2 wt% - 5wt%, the highest photoluminescence intensity was obtained at 0.2wt% erbium doped concentration. Luminescence intensity decreases with increasing erbium concentration. Cooperative upconversion was used to explain the concentration quenching of luminescence from silica glass with high erbium concentration. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure measurements were carried out. It was found that the majority of the erbium impurities in the glasses have a local structure of eight first neighbor oxygen atoms at a mean distance of 0.255 nm, which is consistent with the typical coordination structure of rare earth ion.

Mechanism on exciton-mediated energy transfer in erbium-doped silicon

Exciton-mediated energy transfer model in Er-doped silicon was presented. The emission intensity is related to optically active Er concentration, lifetime of excited Er3+ ion and spontaneous emission. The thermal quenching of the Er luminescence in Si is caused by thermal ionization of Er-bound exciton complex and nonradiative energy back-transfer processes, which correspond to the activation energy of 6.6 and 47.4 meV, respectively. Er doping in silicon introduces donor states, a large enhancement in the electrical activation of Er (up to two orders of magnitude) is obtained by co-implanting Er with O. It appears that the donor states are the gateway to the optically active Er. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Er:YAl(3)(BO(3))(4) glassy thin films from polymeric precursor and sol-gel methods: Waveguides for integrated optics

This paper presents the characterization of single-mode waveguides for 980 and 1550 nm wavelengths. High quality planar waveguide structure was fabricated from Y(1-x)Er(x)Al(3)(BO(3))(4) multilayer thin films with x = 0.02, 0.05, 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5, prepared through the polymeric precursor and sol-gel methods using spin-coating. The propagation losses of the planar waveguides varying from 0.63 to 0.88 dB/cm were measured at 632.8 and 1550 nm. The photoluminescence spectra and radiative lifetimes of the Er(3+) (4)I(13/2) energy level were measured in waveguiding geometry. For most samples the photoluminescence decay was single exponential with lifetimes in between 640 mu s and 200 mu s, depending on the erbium concentration and synthesis method. These results indicate that Er doped YAl(3)(BO(3))(4) compounds are promising for low loss waveguides. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All fights reserved.

Broadband NIR Emission in Sol-Gel Er(3+)-Activated SiO(2)-Ta(2)O(5) Glass Ceramic Planar and Channel Waveguides for Optical Application

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Ultra-long mode-locked Er-droped fibre lasers

The development of ultra-long (UL) cavity (hundreds of meters to several kilometres) mode-locked fibre lasers for the generation of high-energy light pulses with relatively low (sub-megahertz) repetition rates has emerged as a new rapidly advancing area of laser physics. The first demonstration of high pulse energy laser of this type was followed by a number of publications from many research groups on long-cavity Ytterbium and Erbium lasers featuring a variety of configurations with rather different mode-locked operations. The substantial interest to this new approach is stimulated both by non-trivial underlying physics and by the potential of high pulse energy laser sources with unique parameters for a range of applications in industry, bio-medicine, metrology and telecommunications. It is well known, that pulse generation regimes in mode-locked fibre lasers are determined by the intra-cavity balance between the effects of dispersion and non-linearity, and the processes of energy attenuation and amplification. The highest per-pulse energy has been achieved in normal-dispersion UL fibre lasers mode-locked through nonlinear polarization evolution (NPE) for self-modelocking operation. In such lasers are generated the so-called dissipative optical solitons. The uncompensated net normal dispersion in long-cavity resonatorsusually leads to very high chirp and, consequently, to a relatively long duration of generated pulses. This thesis presents the results of research Er-doped ultra-long (more than 1 km cavity length) fibre lasers mode-locked based on NPE. The self-mode-locked erbium-based 3.5-km-long all-fiber laser with the 1.7 µJ pulse energy at a wavelength of 1.55 µm was developed as a part of this research. It has resulted in direct generation of short laser pulses with an ultralow repetition rate of 35.1 kHz. The laser cavity has net normal-dispersion and has been fabricated from commercially-available telecom fibers and optical-fiber elements. Its unconventional linear-ring design with compensation for polarization instability ensures high reliability of the self-mode-locking operation, despite the use of a non polarization-maintaining fibers. The single pulse generation regime in all-fibre erbium mode-locking laser based on NPE with a record cavity length of 25 km was demonstrated. Modelocked lasers with such a long cavity have never been studied before. Our result shows a feasibility of stable mode-locked operation even for an ultra-long cavity length. A new design of fibre laser cavity – “y-configuration”, that offers a range of new functionalities for optimization and stabilization of mode-locked lasing regimes was proposed. This novel cavity configuration has been successfully implemented into a long-cavity normal-dispersion self-mode-locked Er-fibre laser. In particular, it features compensation for polarization instability, suppression of ASE, reduction of pulse duration, prevention of in-cavity wave breaking, and stabilization of the lasing wavelength. This laser along with a specially designed double-pass EDFA have allowed us to demonstrate anenvironmentally stable all-fibre laser system able to deliver sub-nanosecond high-energy pulses with low level of ASE noise.

Stable dual-wavelength oscillation of an erbium-doped fiber ring laser at room temperature

We propose a simple Er-doped fiber laser configuration for achieving stable dual-wavelength oscillation at room temperature, in which a high birefringence fiber Bragg grating was used as the wavelength-selective component. Stable dual-wavelength oscillation at room temperature with a wavelength spacing of 0.23nm and mutually orthogonal polarisation states was achieved by utilising the polarisation hole burning effect. An amplitude variation of less than 0.7dB over 80s period was obtained for both wavelengths.

一种新型结构的单纵模光纤激光器

单纵模掺铒光纤激光器在光通信和光传感等方面有着广泛的应用前景。设计了一种新型的光纤激光器，在光纤环形镜中嵌入未抽运的掺铒光纤作为可饱和吸收体以抑制多纵模，用光纤环谐振腔作为滤波器抑制拍频噪声，用光纤光栅作为波长选择器件，最终得到了单纵模输出并消除了拍频噪声。使用零拍法测量其线宽小于频谱仪的低频极限5kHz。实验结果证明了可饱和吸收体和光纤环的功能。

掺铒磷酸盐玻璃离子交换波导表面保护的研究

对离子交换波导制备过程中掺铒磷酸盐玻璃表面的侵蚀问题进行了研究，分析了产生侵蚀的原因，提出镀K9玻璃薄膜的方法，对掺铒磷酸盐玻璃表面进行保护．采用光学显微镜和原子力显微镜对波导表面特性进行了表征。同时对平板波导的光学特性进行了测试．研究表明K9玻璃薄膜不仅能够对掺铒磷酸盐玻璃起到保护作用，同时允许交换离子透过进入磷酸盐玻璃形成波导层．

掺铒磷酸盐玻璃波导放大器的特性研究

研究了掺铒磷酸盐玻璃波导放大器的特性。利用重叠因子将980nm光抽运的掺铒玻璃波导放大器四能级模型的速率-传输方程进行化简，在考虑上转换效应和放大自发发射的情况下．利用数值模拟的方法，得到了掺铒玻璃波导放大器的增益与Er^3+离子浓度、抽运功率、波导长度等参量之间的关系曲线；同时模拟出放大自发发射曲线并与实验测量结果进行比较。结果表明在考虑上转换效应和放大自发发射的情况下,理论结果和实验测量结果是一致的。同时看到，选择合适的铒离子浓度是制作掺铒玻璃波导放大器的关键；并且为了全面发挥掺铒玻璃波导放大器的性能