Basic Research On Rare Earth Doped Polymeric Waveguide Amplifiers

In MAN and LAN, optical waveguide amplifier as the gain compensation device whichcan replace the optical fiber amplifier.The polymer matrix or organic inorganic compositematrix waveguide amplifier shows huge potential advantages in integrated optics, andbecome a hot research field of optical communications in recent years, but due to the lowsolubility of inorganic rare earth elements in the organic polymer matrix, which restricts thedevelopment of polymeric optical waveguide amplifier.In order to solve this bottleneck in polymeric waveuide amplifier, we systhesis two kindsof rare earth doped polymer materials. Firstly, Oleic acid modified LaF3:Er,Yb nanoparticleis systhesized by the method of microemulsion and organic inorganic hybrid matrial issysthesized by sol-gel process, and the final active layer material in waveguide amplifierincludes both materials above. Utilizing XRD, TEM, IR absorption spectra,photoluminescence spectra and measurement of lifetime of metastable energe levelcharacterization methods, the results show the hexagonal lattice structure for the LaF₃;sizeof the nanoparticles is about5¹0nm;the active material has a strong absorption of980nmwavelength light, while emission at1550nm wavelength is also strong;the lifetime ofnanoparticles in different proportions rare earth elements are also measured, and themaximum metastable lifetime is100μs.Using above materials as the active layer ofwaveguide, waveguide amplifier devices are designed and fabricated.With a0.35mW（1550nm）input power,a near field profile is observed. While signal power（1550nm） is1mW,pump power（980nm） is188mW,3.2dB relative gain can be attained in1.9cm lengthwaveguide.We also synthesize an Er-Yb codoped β-diketone complexes:Er（TTA）₃Phen,Er_1/3 Yb_2/3（TTA）₃Phen,both are doped in P（MMA-GMA） as a core material,the dopingconcentration up to5wt%,higher than that of rare earth doped polymer materials.With Er-Ybdoping ratio in1:2,a maximum relative gain can be found,XRD,FTIR spectroscopy, infraredabsorption spectrum,refractive index,and other aspects of characterizations areproceeded,fabrication of optical waveguide devices.While signal power（1550nm） is1mW,pump power（980nm） is185.4mW,1.3dB relative gain can be attained in1.2cmlength waveguide.The main work of graduation thesis is the fabrication of two types of waveguideamplifiers which utilizes two kinds of core materials, a remarkable relative gain can beattained, two kinds of materials represent different material systems which can be regard astwo potential solutions for practicability of waveguide amplifier.