Erbium-activated silica-tin oxide glass ceramics for photonic integrated circuits: fabrication, characterisation and assessment
Résumé
Er-doped (100-x) SiO2 - x SnO2 glass-ceramic monoliths were prepared using a sol-gel processing. The thermally induced growth of SnO2 nanocrystals was followed by Raman spectroscopic measurements. Using x-ray crystallography, the average crystal size was determined to be about 5nm for a heat-treatment at 1000C°. Analysis of the photoluminescence data shows that the amount of Er3+ ions incorporated in the SnO2 nanocrystals can be controlled by the tin dioxide concentration. In addition, spectroscopic evidence is provided of a transfer of energy from SnO2 nanocrystals to erbium ions within the silica matrix, thus confirming the crystalline environment of the rare-earth ions.