| There is a growing need for compact, efficient rare-earth doped waveguide optical amplifiers for use in optical communications. Zn2Si 0.5Ge0.5O4 (ZSG) is a promising new host material for Erbium (Er) due to the high concentration of Er which can be incorporated and the high optical activity of the incorporated Er. In this thesis, the absorption and emission cross-sections of Er in Er-doped ZSG are measured both through a Landenburg-Fuchtbauer analysis of the photo-luminescence spectra, and from direct absorption measurements (using McCumber theory). Peak cross sections are about 3 x 10-24 m 2, comparable to measurements on other oxide-based glass amplifiers. The population statistics of the excited Er-level (4I 13/2), along with the excited state lifetime, are determined through a novel rate-equations-based frequency domain method in which the spontaneous emission power at 1534 nm is measured as a function of pump power (980nm) and pump modulation frequency. The determined lifetime of 2ms is comparable to the 2.3ms measured using a conventional pump probe technique. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
