Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-20T23:48:01.599Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Fabrication of Er Doped Glass Films as Used in Planar Optical Waveguides

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

J. V. Gates
Affiliation:
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974.
A. J. Bruce
Affiliation:
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974.
J. Shmulovich
Affiliation:
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974.
Y. H. Wong
Affiliation:
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974.
G. Nykolak
Affiliation:
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974.
M. R. X. Barros
Affiliation:
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974.
R. Ghosh
Affiliation:
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974.
Get access

Abstract

Silica integrated optical circuits are expanding in functionality to include optically active waveguides. Traditionally, the planar optical waveguide structures include silica based glass films such as thermal oxides, phosphorous, and boron-phosphorous doped glasses. Various efforts have successfully doped conventional waveguides with Er, typically by solution doping. Material issues such as rare earth solubility and glass structure dictate that efficient optical amplifiers based on such waveguides have path lengths in excess of 10–15 cm. We have developed an alternative strategy using Er-doped soda-lime silicate glass films on silicon. The waveguide processing utilizes methods of deposition similar to those used in silicon IC technology, with modificatons in the compositions and thicknesses. In these glasses the effective solubility limits are relaxed and we have successfully fabricated short path length devices which demonstrate net gain of more than 4 dB/cm. Short path length devices offer a potential advantage in highly integrated multi-channel devices and offer an additional building block in system architectures.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Henry, C. H., Australian Optical Conference on Optical Fiber Technology Conference Proceedings (ACOFT '94), Melbourne, Australia (1994).Google Scholar
2. Kitagawa, T. et al., Electronics Lett. 28, 1818 (1992).Google Scholar
3. Hattori, K., Kitagawa, T., Oguma, M., Ohmori, Y., and Horiguchi, M., Electronics Lett. 30 (11), 856857 (1994).Google Scholar
4. Shuto, K., Hattori, K., Kitagawa, T., Horiguchi, M., ECOC 2, MOP2.3, (1993).Google Scholar
5. DiGiovanni, D. J., Mater. Res. Soc. Proc. 244, 135142 (1991).Google Scholar
6. Nykolak, G., Becker, P. C., Shmulovich, J., Wong, Y. H., Digiovanni, D. J., and Bruce, A. J., Photonics Technology Letters 5, 1014 (1993).Google Scholar
7. CRC Handbook of Laser Science and Technology, Vol V, 339–372, CRC Press (1987).Google Scholar
8. Shmulovich, J., Wong, A., Wong, Y. H., Bruce, A. J., Grodkiewicz, W. H. and Berkstresser, G., Ceramic Transactions 28, 369 (1992).Google Scholar
9. Neeves, A. E., Bruce, A. J., Reed, W.A., Rabinovich, E.M, Grodkiewicz, W. H., Kopolov, A. A., Lidgard, A., DiGiovanni, D. G., Ceramic Transactions 28, 353 (1992).Google Scholar
10. Giles, C. R. and Desurvire, E., Journal of Lightwave Technology 9 (2), 271283 (1991).Google Scholar