Nanostructuring an erbium local environment inside sol–gel silica glasses: toward efficient erbium optical fiber lasers. (11th January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Savelii, Inna; El Hamzaoui, Hicham; Bigot, Laurent; Bouwmans, Géraud; Fsaifes, Ihsan; Capoen, Bruno; Bouazaoui, Mohamed
• Is Part Of: Laser physics letters. Volume 13:Number 2(2016:Feb.)
• Publication Date: 2016-01-11
• Subjects: silica glasses -- photonic crystal fibers -- fiber lasers -- Er/Al-doped fibers -- sol–gel technology; Lasers -- Periodicals; Physics -- Periodicals; 621.366
• DOI: 10.1088/1612-2011/13/2/025108
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1612-2011

Abstract

Abstract: To extend the use of erbium- (Er-)/aluminum- (Al-) codoped optical fibers in hostile environments, the reduction of the Al amount has been identified as a serious way to harden them against harsh radiation. In this work, sol–gel monolithic Er 3+ -doped and Er 3+ /Al 3+ -codoped silica glasses were prepared from nanoporous silica xerogels soaked in a solution containing an Er salt together or not with an Al salt. After sintering, these glasses were used as the core material of microstructured optical fibers made by the stack-and-draw method. The influence of Al incorporation on the optical properties of Er 3+ -doped silica glasses and fibers is investigated. This approach enabled the preparation of silica glasses containing dispersed Er 3+ ions with low Al content. The obtained fibers have been tested in an all-fibered cavity laser architecture. The Er 3+ /Al 3+ -codoped fiber laser presents a maximum efficiency of 27% at 1530 nm. We show that without Al doping, the laser exhibits lower performances that depend on Er content inside the doped fiber core. The effect of Er pair-induced quenching also has been investigated through nonsaturable absorption experiments, which clearly indicate that the fraction of Er ion pairs is significantly reduced in the Al-codoped fiber.