| Waveguides with core layers of erbium-doped silicon monoxide (Er:SiO) were investigated for use as erbium-doped waveguide amplifiers (EDWAs). The Er:SiO was annealed to precipitate amorphous silicon nanoparticles, which act as broadband sensitizers for erbium. The annealed layers have an index of refraction of 1.9 at 1.5 mum. Waveguide propagation losses were as low as ≃ 0.5 dB/cm, and the measured absorption cross-section of the erbium 4 I15/2 to 4I13/2 transition was approximately 1x10-20 cm2. Pumping of the erbium was conducted using both resonant and non-resonant pumping schemes. Under transverse pumping by a laser operating at 532 nm, both confined carrier absorption (CCA) and erbium-related signal change (ERSC) of 1.5 mum probe light were observed. For all pump intensities tested, CCA was the dominant pump-induced mechanism. The invertible fraction of erbium ions saturated at approximately 20%. Similar results were obtained by pumping with 980 nm light. 80% of the erbium was believed to be inactive, and likely clustered. |
