Laser action from Ho3+, Er3+, and Tm3+in YAlO3

Laser action has been observed for the following rare-earth ions in YAlO3:Ho³⁺(sensitized with Er³⁺and Tm³⁺), Er³⁺, and Tm³⁺(sensitized with Er³⁺) at wavelengths of 2.123, 0.851, and 1.861 μm, respectively. Measurements of spectroscopic properties, fluorescence kinetics, and laser performance of these ions in YAlO3are reported.     

The effect of pair-induced energy transfer on the performance ofsilica waveguide amplifiers with high Er3+/Yb3+concentrations

High-concentration Er³⁺/Yb³⁺ co-doped silica waveguide amplifiers are numerically analyzed. With optimized rare-earth concentrations the effect of Er³⁺/Er³⁺ ion-pairs can be neglected and each Er³⁺ ion can be assumed to be paired only to the surrounding Yb³⁺ ions. The rate-equations model includes uniform upconversion mechanisms from ⁴I_13/2 and ⁴I_11/2 erbium levels and an Yb³⁺ to Er³⁺ pair-induced energy transfer process. Numerical results demonstrate the possibility of fabricating short- and high-gain integrated optical amplifiers; it is shown that net gain as high as 3 dB/cm can be obtained     

Power requirements for erbium-doped fiber amplifiers pumped in the800, 980, and 1480 nm bands

The authors examine relative merits of exciting Er³⁺ amplifiers at the three wavelengths for which high-power laser diodes are available at 800, 980, and 1480 nm. Model calculations are confirmed by a detailed experimental comparison of the power requirements for pumping in the 800-nm band and at 980 nm. To obtain comparable performance with respect to gain and noise figure, 7-8 dB more power is required when pumping in the 800-nm-band     

Improved gain characteristics in high-concentrationEr3+/Yb3+ codoped glass waveguide amplifiers

High-concentration Er³⁺/Yb³⁺ codoped glass waveguide amplifiers are analyzed by means of a finite-element-based code. Efficient Yb³⁺ to Er³⁺ energy transfer is shown to be a useful mechanism to reduce performance degradation due to Er³⁺ ion-ion interactions. Numerical calculations based on realistic waveguide parameters demonstrate the possibility of achieving high gain with a short device length     

Blue Green Emission From a Cu$^{+}$ -Doped Transparent Material Prepared by Sintering Porous Glass

A colorless transparent, blue green emission material was fabricated by sintering porous glass impregnated with copper ions. The emission spectral profile obtained from Cu⁺ -doped high silica glass (HSG) by 267-nm monochromatic light excitation matches that obtained by pumping with an 800-nm femtosecond laser, indicating that the emissions in both cases come from an identical origin. The upconversion emission excited by 800-nm femtosecond laser is considered to be a three-photon excitation process. A tentative scheme of upconverted emission from Cu⁺ -doped HSG was also proposed. The glass materials presented herein are expected to find application in lamps, high density optical storage, and three-dimensional color displays.     

Glass lasers

After a general discussion of the merits of glass vs. crystals as host materials for laser ions, a summary is given of the various glass lasers. Because of its importance as an efficient, room temperature laser the properties of neodymium are considered in greater detail. This includes the nonlaser properties of Nd³⁺in glass, the spectral and temporal emission characteristics of Nd³⁺lasers, and Nd³⁺laser configurations. Separate sections deal with the other two room temperature lasers which use Yb³⁺or Er³⁺. The problem of thermal of laser cavities is also discussed. Finally, a survey is given of the glasses that are useful as Faraday rotators.     

Laser cross-section and quantum yield of Er3+ at 2.7μm in a ZrF4-based fluoride glass

Spectroscopic determination of laser cross-section and quantum efficiency of the Er³⁺ laser transition at 2.7 μm are reported for the first time for a fluoride glass of the ZBLAN type. Comparisons with crystal values and other glass compositions are given. Emission spectra of Er³⁺ at 2.7 μm are also presented for the first time     

Monte Carlo simulations of homogeneous upconversion in erbium-dopedsilica glasses

Quenching of Er³⁺ ions by homogeneous energy-transfer upconversion in high-concentration erbium-doped silica glasses has been theoretically investigated, The results indicate that at Er³⁺ concentrations of 1.0-2.0·10²⁶ m^-3 or below, the kinetic limit of strong migration is not reached, and hence the widely accepted quadratic upconversion model is not generally valid. Nevertheless, the results offer an explanation of the experimental observations of quadratic upconversion. Furthermore, it has been shown that at a given population inversion, the quenching rate depends on the rate of exchange of the excited Er³⁺ ions by emission and absorption     

Modeling of Yb3+-sensitized Er3+-doped silicawaveguide amplifiers

A model for Yb³⁺-sensitized Er³⁺-doped silica waveguide amplifiers is described and numerically investigated in the small-signal regime. The amplified spontaneous emission in the ytterbium-band and the quenching process between excited erbium ions are included in the model. For pump wavelengths between 860 and 995 nm, the amplified spontaneous emission in the ytterbium-band is found to reduce both the gain and the optimum length of the amplifier significantly. The achievable gain of the Yb³⁺-sensitized amplifier is found to be higher than in an Er³⁺-doped silica waveguide without Yb ³⁺ (18 dB versus 9 dB for a pump power of 100 mW). However, it is important to optimize the Yb-concentration according to the choice of pump wavelength     

Er3+-doped Al2O3 thin films byplasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) exhibiting a 55-nmoptical bandwidth

We report the first deposition of Er³⁺-doped aluminum oxide thin-film optical waveguides by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The aluminum and erbium precursors used for the deposition of the thin films were trimethyl-aluminum and Er tri-chelate of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylheptane-3,5 dione respectively. The samples show broad, room-temperature photoluminescence at λ=1.533 μm. The Er³⁺ concentration ranged from 0.01-0.2 at%. The full width half maximum (FWHM) of the Er³⁺ emission spectrum is 55 nm, considerably broader than in silica glass. The radiative lifetime has been measured at 50-mW pump power     

Spectral dependence of the small-signal gain around 1.5 μm inerbium doped silica fiber amplifiers

A simple theoretical analysis of small-signal Er³⁺-doped silica fiber amplifier is presented, comparing the efficiency of the 800-, 980-, and 1500-nm pump bands, and demonstrating that wide bandwidth and high gains can be achieved simultaneously by a suitable choice of pump power and fiber length. The comparison shows that the 980- and 1500-nm pump bands have much the same efficiency in terms of dB/mW, and that the 800-nm pumped amplifier is able to produce high gains but at nearly an order of magnitude higher pump powers     

Cascaded Two-Wavelength Lasers and Their Effects on C-Band Amplification Performance for Er3+-Doped Fluoride Fiber

In this paper, we report cascaded two-wavelength 853-nm (⁴ S_3/2rarr⁴I_13/2 transition) and 1533-nm (⁴I_13/2rarr⁴I_15/2 transition) lasing from Er³⁺-doped fluoride fiber pumped at 974 nm. The cavity for cascaded two-wavelength lasing is composed of two fiber ends with 4% Fresnel reflection. Its optical-to-optical efficiency is up to 26.6%. Its effects on C-band fiber amplifiers and green upconversion fiber lasers are discussed. A new way to get high efficiency and low noise C-band amplifier is suggested, i.e., a fluoride-based Er³⁺-doped fiber amplifier including 853-nm lasing cavity. Our simulated results show that such a new amplifier can enhance the signal gain greatly and break the limit of the saturated gain intensity for a normal amplifier     

Er–Yb Waveguide Amplifiers in Novel Silicate Glasses

A set of novel silicate glasses containing ZnO and co-doped with Er³⁺ and Yb³⁺ was designed as substrates for optical waveguide amplifiers. Characterized by exceptionally low up-conversion, minimum Er concentration quenching and high mechanical as well as chemical stability, the reported glasses can compete with phosphate-based materials typically used in the state-of-art active devices. Straight channel waveguides with propagation losses as low as 0.18 dB/cm were fabricated in these substrates using Ag⁺ hArr Na⁺ and K ⁺ hArr Na⁺ thermal ion exchange. Net on-chip gain values of 6.7 dB at 1537 nm were measured and a net fiber to-fiber gain of 5 dB was achieved when pumped at 976 nm. A six-level spatially resolved numerical model of an Er-Yb co-doped active waveguide was developed to analyze and optimize the amplifier performance. Modification of the rare-earth dopant concentration and the channel waveguide geometry was proposed to increase the gain figure and improve the overall amplifier efficiency.     

Lossless stripe waveguide optical beam splitter: modeling of theY-structure

We present a theoretical model of a loss-compensated symmetric Y-junction acting as an optical beam splitter. We consider silica (SiO ₂) channel waveguides which are assumed to be highly doped with Er³⁺. The model was developed using the beam propagation method (BPM) and a fast-Fourier-transform (FFT)-based algorithm. The analysis showed that considerable gain levels, about 4.2 dB/cm at each port of the Y-junction, can be achieved for erbium concentration 2.5×10²⁰ ions/cm³, signal power 1 μW and pump power 250 mW     

Population dynamics in Yb:Er:phosphate glass under neodymium laserpumping

Characteristics of ytterbium to erbium energy transfer in Yb:Er:phosphate glasses have been studied for a case when Nd phosphate glass laser is used as a pumping source. A theoretical model of the energy transfer was developed to reproduce the experimentally observed population dynamics of the Er³⁺ upper and lower laser levels. The results show that saturation and frequency hole burning of the inhomogeneously broadened Yb³⁺ absorption line are of primary importance in determining the dynamics and efficiency of the Yb³⁺ -Er³⁺ energy transfer under Nd laser pumping. The influence of other loss channels that have been identified in previous studies is found to be relatively small. The model also yields the lifetime of the frequency hole, as well as the effective rates of energy transfer between groups of Yb³⁺ and Er³⁺ ions in phosphate glasses     

Optimum design of Er3+-Yb3+ codoped fibersfor large-signal high-pump-power applications

A comprehensive numerical fiber amplifier model has been used to optimize Er³⁺-Yb³⁺ codoped active fiber for maximum gain and quantum conversion efficiency (QCE) at large signal operation. The optimum cutoff wavelength of the LP₁₁ mode has been found to increase from 800 mm at low pump powers (≈50 mW) to 1400 mn at pump powers higher than 500 mW. While at low pump powers fibers with higher numerical aperture give higher QCE, at high pump levels better large signal performance is achieved with fibers having lower numerical aperture     

Modeling the gain degradation of high concentration erbium-dopedfiber amplifiers by introducing inhomogeneous cooperative up-conversion

The gain degradation of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) with high erbium ion (Er³⁺) concentration at 1.48- and 0.98-μm pump wavelengths is modeled by introducing inhomogeneous cooperative up-conversion (IhCU). General formulas describing the gain degradation as a function of IhCU rate are obtained by solving rate equations for population probabilities in the relevant Er³⁺ energy levels. The experimental results, such as low gain for high Er³⁺ concentration, and higher saturated gain with counterpropagation than with copropagation pumping, which have not yet been explained theoretically, are qualitatively explained by this model. Good agreement between the measured and calculated gain is obtained. The gain degradation characteristics at 1.48- and 0.98-μm pump wavelengths are analyzed with this model. The advantage of counterpropagation pumping is determined qualitatively. The noise figure degradation is also evaluated     

Improved gain performance in Yb3+-sensitized Er3+-doped alumina (Al2O3) channel opticalwaveguide amplifiers

Small-signal amplification in short, Yb³⁺-sensitized, Er³⁺-doped alumina (Al₂O₃) channel optical waveguides with high Er³⁺ concentrations is analyzed. Taking into account uniform up conversion, excited state absorption (ESA) from the Er³⁺ metastable level (⁴I_13/2 ), and Yb³⁺→Er³⁺ energy transfer by cross relaxation, the obtainable gain improvements compared to Yb³⁺ -free Er³⁺-doped Al₂O₃ optical waveguides are investigated. The amplifier model is based on propagation and population rate equations and is solved numerically by combining finite elements and the Runge-Kutta algorithm. The analysis predicts that 5-cm long Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ co-doped Al₂O ₃ waveguides show 13-dB net signal gain for 100 mW pump power at λ_p=980 nm     

Experimental and theoretical analysis of efficient erbium-dopedfiber power amplifiers

The efficiency of Er³⁺-doped fiber power amplifiers (EDFAs) pumped at 980 nm was experimentally investigated and quantum conversion efficiencies (QCE) up to 0.89 were achieved. The experiment was accurately simulated by a computer model using only measured input parameters. The model was further used in an analysis of power amplifiers pumped at 980 and 1480 nm that included waveguide optimization and Er³⁺ confinement. The QCE can be enhanced by increasing the numerical aperture (NA) and confining the Er³⁺ ions to the central region of the core. At pump powers typically used for packaged EDFAs (25-100 mW). QCE can be improved by up to 60% by increasing the NA from 0.15 to 0.25, and confined Er³⁺ doping can provide an improvement of up to 20%. However, NA and Er³⁺ confinement have insignificant effects on the noise figure when both the cutoff wavelength and the fiber length are optimized with respect to QCE     

Design optimization for efficient erbium-doped fiber amplifiers

The gain and pumping efficiency of aluminosilicate erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) are analyzed as a function of guiding parameters and Er-doping profile for two pump wavelengths of λ _p=980 nm and λ_p=1.47 μm. Three designs of fiber-amplifier waveguides are considered: one with the same mode size as standard 1.5-μm communication fibers (type 1); one with the same mode size as standard 1.5-μm dispersion-shifted fibers (type 2); and one with mode size smaller than those of communication fibers (type 3). For the 1.47-μm pump, fundamental LP₀₁ mode excitation is assumed, while for the λ_p=980-nm pump, concurrent excitation of LP₁₁ modes is considered. It is shown that excitation of higher-order pump modes at 980 nm does not significantly affect the amplifier gain performance. The effect of concentrating the Er³⁺ doping near the center of the fiber core is shown to increase the amplifier gain coefficients by a factor of 1.5 to 2