Cooperative upconversion effects on the performance of Er3+-doped phosphate glass waveguide amplifiers

T. Ohtsuki, S. Honkanen, S. I. Najafi, N. Peyghambarian

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

74 Scopus citations

Abstract

The cooperative upconversion processes of erbium ions in silver film ion-exchanged waveguides in a phosphate glass were studied from the pump intensity dependence of luminescence decay curves. Cooperative upconversion coefficients of the 4I13/2 level, 7.7 ± 0.7 × 10-19 and 9.3 ± 0.7 × 10-19 cm3/s, were obtained for an Er3+ concentration of 1 × 1020 cm-3 in bulk and waveguide samples, respectively. These values are 1 order of magnitude smaller than the ones reported for silica glass. The increase in the cooperative upconversion coefficient with the increase in Er3+ concentration was found to be small. The effects of cooperative upconversion on the gain performance were analyzed for different Er3+ concentrations by a theoretical model based on experimentally measured gain with a 1.48-μm pump wavelength. Given the small cooperative upconversion coefficients in this glass, Er3+ concentrations potentially as high as 3.7 × 1020 cm-3 were shown to be feasible. Such high concentrations would result in a 12-dB gain at 150-mW pump power with a 4-cm-long waveguide.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1838-1845
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of the Optical Society of America B: Optical Physics
Volume14
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1997

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Cooperative upconversion effects on the performance of Er3+-doped phosphate glass waveguide amplifiers'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this