Er3+-activated silica-hafnia transparent glass-ceramics planar waveguides

Silica-hafnia glass-ceramic waveguides activated by Er3+ ions were fabricated by sol-gel route. X ray diffraction and optical spectroscopy measurements showed that after a suitable heat treatment the resulting material exhibits a nanocrystalline structure. Analysis of the luminescence properties has demonstrated that erbium ions are, at least partially, trapped in a crystalline phase. Losses measurements at different wavelength highlight a very low attenuation coefficient indicating that this nanostructured material is suitable for fabrication of waveguide amplifiers operating in the C telecommunications band.