Preparation and Properties of Er-Doped ZrO2 Nanocrystalline Phase-Separated Preforms of Optical Fibers by MCVD Process

Abstract

The fabrication of Er-doped ZrO 2 -based nanocrystalline phase-separated silica optical preforms by the MCVD and solution doping techniques is presented. Fabricated preform cores are nearly transparent and contain phase-separated rare-earth doped nanocrystalline particles with diameters mainly in a range from 20 to 80 nm. High concentrations of erbium and aluminium in preform cores of about 0.3 and 14 mol%, respectively have been achieved without defects on the core-cladding interface. Spectral losses in a range 800-1600 nm and fluorescence spectra of erbium ions around 1550 nm measured on a fibre drawn from the preform are reported.

Active Optical Fibers and Components for Fiber Lasers Emitting in the 2-μm Spectral Range

“…Modification of the chemical composition of the nanoparticles can be used to tailor the luminescence properties of the incorporated RE. For instance, silica glass doped with ZrO 2 nanoparticles represents an interesting low phonon energy composition that was already successfully applied for a preparation of Er-doped fibers [ 51 ]. The fibers containing Tm-doped ZrO 2 nanoparticles exhibited a two component lifetime of 3 F 4 ↔ 3 H 6 transition with a lifetime of about 680 μs and a slope efficiency of 87% of the theoretical maximum [ 52 ].…”

Erbium and Al2O3 nanocrystals-doped silica optical fibers

“…RE -doped fibers have been modified with nanoparticles of noble metals [21,22], semiconductors [23], ceramics like Al 2 O 3 , TiO 2 , ZrO 2 and RE-containing nanocrystals [24]. Several concepts of the preparation like direct nanoparticle deposition [25], phase nano-separation [26] or the extended solution doping method [27] have been elaborated.…”