Greater than 50% inversion in Erbium doped Chalcogenide waveguides

We report Er-doped Ge-Ga-Se films and waveguides deposited using co-thermal evaporation and patterned with plasma etching. Strong photoluminescence at 1.54 mu m with intrinsic lifetime of 1 ms was obtained from deposited films with 1490 nm excitation. Erbium population inversion up to 50% was achieved, with a maximum of similar to 55% possible at saturation for the first time to the author's knowledge, approaching the theoretical maximum of 65%. Whilst gain was not achieved due to the presence of upconversion pumped photoinduced absorption, this nonetheless represents a further important step towards the realization of future chalcogenide Erbium doped waveguide amplifiers at 1550 nm and in the Mid-infrared. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America