Modal properties of an Erbium-doped asymmetric single-mode slab waveguide in the glass-ceramics SnO2-SiO2 system

We investigate the modal properties (effective index and modal gain) of an active, Erbium-doped single-mode slab waveguide made of silica tin-dioxide glass-ceramics on Silica. Completed with a photo-inscribed Bragg grating, such a structure is a good candidate for realizing an optically pumped laser emitter. For total Erbium concentration of 9.84×10-4 mol/cm3 and a cross-section (for stimulated transitions) of ??2×10-25m2 in a discussed structure, the maximum achievable material gain in DFB with Quarter-Wave phase Shift (QWS-DFB) is ? Ntot?23m-1. Taking into account the confinement factor, the maximum achievable modal gain, in complex amplitude, over the length of 10mm is at about (?maxL)?0.09.