Enhanced fluorescence from Eu³⁺ in low-loss silica glass-ceramic waveguides with high SnO₂ content

S.N.B. Bhaktha (1, 2, 3) , F. Beclin (4) , M. Bouazaoui (5, 6) , B. Capoen (5, 6) , Alessandro Chiasera (2) , M. Ferrari (2) , C. Kinowski (1) , Giancarlo C. Righini (7, 8) , O. Robbe (1) , S. Turrell (1)

1 LASIRE - Laboratoire Avancé de Spectroscopie pour les Intéractions la Réactivité et l'Environnement - UMR 8516
2 CSMFO group
3 CSMFO group
4 LSPES - Laboratoire de structures et propriétés de l'état solide - UMR 8008
5 CERLA - Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Lasers et Applications
6 PhLAM - Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molécules - UMR 8523
7 Department of Materials and Devices
8 IFAC - Istituto di Fisica Applicata "Nello Carrara"

We report on the sol-gel fabrication and characterization of (100−x)SiO₂–xSnO₂ (x=8, 16, and 25 mol %) glass-ceramic waveguides doped with 1 mol % Eu³⁺. A suitable top-down thermal process led to the formation of SnO₂ nanocrystals ~4 nm embedding Eu³⁺ ions. The excitation spectra evidence the role of interband electronic transition of SnO₂ nanocrystals on the luminescence of Eu³⁺. Monitoring the ⁵D₀→⁷F₂ Eu³⁺ emission, we observe about 15 times increase in the intensity of SnO₂ absorption band, moving from x=8 to 25 mol %. These waveguides also exhibit low losses, making them quite promising for development of high-gain integrated optical amplifiers.

Domaines: Chimie-Physique [physics.chem-ph]; Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; Chimie théorique et/ou physique; Optique [physics.optics]

S.N.B. Bhaktha, F. Beclin, M. Bouazaoui, B. Capoen, Alessandro Chiasera, et al.. Enhanced fluorescence from Eu³⁺ in low-loss silica glass-ceramic waveguides with high SnO₂ content. Applied Physics Letters, 2008, 93, pp.211904-1 - 211904-3. ⟨10.1063/1.3037224⟩. ⟨hal-00350398⟩