Er3+-activated sol-gel silica derived spherical Microresonators

Giancarlo C. Righini (1) , Christina Armellini (2) , Alessandro Chiasera (2) , Yoann Jestin (2) , Maurizio Ferrari (2) , Andrea Chiappini (3) , Maurizio Montagna (3) , Claire Duverger-Arfuso (4) , Patrice Feron (5) , Simone Berneschi (6) , Massimo Brenci (6) , Gualtiero Nunzi Conti (6) , Stefano Pelli (6) , Clara Gonçalves (7) , Rui Manuel Almeida (7)

1 Department of Materials and Devices
2 IFN - Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie
3 UNITN - Università degli Studi di Trento = University of Trento
4 LdOF - Laboratoire des oxydes et fluorures
5 FOTON - Fonctions Optiques pour les Technologies de l'informatiON
6 IFAC - Istituto di Fisica Applicata "Nello Carrara"
7 ICEMS - Instituto de Ciência e Engenharia de Materiais e Superfícies

Details of the synthesis, spectroscopic, optical, morphological and structural characterisation of silica microspheres activated by Er3+ ions produced by the sol-gel route are presented. Acetic acid is used to catalyse the hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate in the presence of ErCl3. SEM and TEM images are used to determine the dimension of the spheres and demonstrate the high quality of their surfaces. Photoluminescence measurements, both on single spheres and on pressed KBr pellets, containing 5% Er3+-doped silica spheres, confirm the incorporation of Er3+ ions into the silica matrix. The measured lifetime is 13.7 ms, relative to the 4I13/2 metastable state corresponding to a system quantum efficiency of 76%.

Domaines: Matériaux; Optique [physics.optics]; Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique

Giancarlo C. Righini, Christina Armellini, Alessandro Chiasera, Yoann Jestin, Maurizio Ferrari, et al.. Er3+-activated sol-gel silica derived spherical Microresonators. Glass Technology, 2007, 48 (4), pp.200-203. ⟨hal-00275674⟩