Sol-Gel derived glass-ceramic waveguides for optical amplification

(100-x) SiO2-xHfO2 (x = 10, 20, 30 mol) glass-ceramics planar waveguides doped with 0.3 mol% Er3+ ions were prepared by the sol-gel route, using dip-coating deposition on v-SiO2 substrates. It is demonstrated that an adapted heat treatment induces growing of Er3+-activated HfO2 nanocrystals. The waveguides were characterized by m-line, Raman, and luminescence spectroscopies. The results are discussed with the aim of assessing the role of hafnia on the structural optical and spectroscopic properties of the erbium doped silica hafnia glass-ceramics planar waveguides.