Tm3+-doped ion-exchanged aluminum germanate glass waveguide for S-band amplification

K+-Na+ ion-exchanged channel waveguide amplifiers have been fabricated in Tm3+-doped acid-resistant aluminum germanate glasses. The optical and relative gains of a 3.15-cm-long waveguide channel were achieved to be 4.05 and 2.29 dB at 1.482 mu m wavelength under 110 mW 793 nm laser excitation, respectively. After compensating the propagation loss, an internal gain of 1.50 dB and a remarkable gain coefficient of 0.48 dB/cm were obtained, which reveals a definite S-band signal amplification in the low phonon energy glass waveguide. As an expectation, UV-radiation-sensitive glass waveguide should promote the developments of gain-flatten S-band waveguide amplifiers, infrared UV-writing grating waveguide lasers, and compact multifunctional integrated optical devices. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3247888]