Characterization of Er3+-doped fluoride glass ceramics waveguides containing LaF3 nano-crystals

Highly Er 3+ -doped fluoride glass ceramics planar waveguides containing LaF 3 nanocrystals have been fabricated by physical vapor deposition (PVD). The solubility of Er 3+ in the segregated nanocrystals can reach 30mol% which is much larger than the value found in LaF 3 -oxide glass ceramics. A quantitative analysis of the photoluminescence of the 1.54 m m emission band of Er 3+ ions has demonstrated that erbium ions are partitioned in both crystals and vitreous phase. The short lifetime (2.2ms) measured for erbium incorporated in LaF 3 crystal lattice is a consequence of concentration quenching while the lifetime is close to 10ms in the glassy phase. The emission bandwidth has been found to be greater than that of the precursor glass (71nm at the half-height width). The high Er 3+ concentration and spectral width could make this nanostructured fluoride material suitable for planar amplifier in the C telecommunication band.