Polymer-based materials for amplification in the telecommunication window: Influence of erbium complex concentration on relevant parameters for the elaboration of waveguide amplifiers around 1550 nm

Catherine Reyé (1) , Anh Quoc Lequang (2) , Eric Besson (1) , Rolland Hierle (2) , Ahmad Mehdi (1) , Robert J. P. Corriu (1, 3) , Isabelle Ledoux-Rak (2)

1 ICGM ICMMM - Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier - Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux de Montpellier
2 LPQM - Laboratoire de Photonique Quantique et Moléculaire
3 CMOS - Chimie moléculaire et organisation du solide

Erbium-doped polymer-based optical waveguides offer an attractive alternative for inorganic amplifiers in the eye-safe telecommunication window at 1550 nm. We are succeeded in doping a standard polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) matrix with an octupolar erbium complex designed to display quadratic nonlinear optical response and IR luminescence in the same time. We have investigated the influence of erbium complex concentration on various parameters such as spun coated thickness, reactive ionic etching rate, refractive index and near infrared luminescence. The optimal erbium concentration for emission at 1550 nm reaches 1 wt.%. These carefully optimized processing and optical parameters are of great relevance for a further design and elaboration of polymer-based single mode waveguide amplifiers.

Domaines: Physique Quantique [quant-ph]; Matériaux

Catherine Reyé, Anh Quoc Lequang, Eric Besson, Rolland Hierle, Ahmad Mehdi, et al.. Polymer-based materials for amplification in the telecommunication window: Influence of erbium complex concentration on relevant parameters for the elaboration of waveguide amplifiers around 1550 nm. Optical Materials, 2006, 29, pp.941. ⟨10.1016/j.optmat.2005.12.011⟩. ⟨hal-00186083⟩