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

Over the last few years considerable efforts have been made in order to obtain rare earth doped glass-ceramic materials with active ions embedded in the crystalline phase. This class of materials is of great importance in photonics, because they combine the mechanical and optical properties of the glass with a crystal-like environment for the rare-earth ions, where their higher cross-sections can be exploited in order to fabricate more compact devices. The objective of the research presented here is to fabricate ultra-transparent Er3+-activated glass ceramics in planar waveguide format and to assess their optical, spectroscopic, and structural properties.