Raman scattering characteristics of the TBSN-based tellurite glass system as a new Raman gain medium

A study was initiated to understand requirements for widening and flattening the gain spectra of tellurite-based glasses for their application as new gain media for photonic devices. For this purpose, two Raman active components, WO3 and P2O5, were added either separately or jointly to a TeO2-BaO-SrO-Nb2O5 (TBSN) glass system, and the Raman spectral evolution in response to this addition was studied. Raman scattering cross sections of the TBSN glasses were increased with an increase in the WO3 content and decreased with an increase in the P2O5 content. The Raman intensity and bandwidth increased when WO3 and P2O5 were jointly added in TBSN. The bandwidths of the Raman gain coefficient spectra of the present tellurite glasses were more than twice that of a conventional TeO2-Bi2O3-ZnO-Na2O glass and 70% larger than that of silica glass. The new glasses are expected to be candidates for ultrabroadband fiber Raman amplifiers. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.