Waveguide formation by ion implantation in Er doped optical materials

High energy medium-light ion implantation was applied on both z-cut Er:LiNbO3 and Er3+-Yb3+ co-doped phosphate glasses, in order to fabricate optical waveguides on optically amplifying media. Preliminary results obtained with Er:LiNbO3, implanted with 3.9 MeV Carbon ions, have demonstrated the possibility to fabricate good quality waveguides, the optical characteristics of which depend on implantation fluence and post-annealing process. Er3+-Yb3+ co-doped phosphate glass substrates were implanted with both 2.8 MeV Carbon ions, at fluences ranging from 3 x 10(14) ions/cm(2) to 1 X 10(15) ions/cm(2), and with 3.4 MeV Oxygen ions at a fluence of 1 X 10(15) ions/cm(2). Also in this case, planar optical waveguides were formed, but, under the as-reported implantation conditions, the possibility to tailor the refractive index profiles was very reduced. In this work, the optical properties of the integrated optical waveguides obtained on different doped substrates are examined. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.