Er3+-Yb3+ co-doped glass waveguide amplifiers using ion exchange and field-assisted annealing

Er3+-Yb3+ co-doped waveguide amplifiers fabricated using thermal two-step ion-exchange are demonstrated. K+-Na+ ion-exchange process was first carried out in pure KNo3 molten bath, and then field-assisted annealing (FAA) was used to make the buried wave-guides. The effective buried depth is estimated to be similar to 3.4 mu m for the buried FAA waveguides. With the use of cut-back method, the fiber-to-guide coupling loss of similar to 4.38 dB, the waveguide loss of similar to 2.27 dB/cm, and Er3+ absorption loss similar to 5.7 dB were measured for a similar to 1.24-cm-long waveguide. Peak relative gain of similar to 7.0 dB is obtained for a similar to 1.24-cm-long waveguide. The potential for the fabrication of compact optical amplifiers operating in the range of 1520-1580 nm is also demonstrated. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.