TY - GEN
T1 - Polymer optical waveguide composed of europium-aluminum-acrylate composite core for compact optical amplifier and laser
AU - Mitani, Marina
AU - Yamashita, Kenichi
AU - Fukui, Toshimi
AU - Ishigure, Takaaki
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 SPIE.
Copyright:
Copyright 2015 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - We successfully fabricate polymer waveguides with Europium-Aluminum (Eu-Al) polymer composite core using the Mosquito method that utilizes a microdispenser for realizing a compact waveguide optical amplifiers and lasers. Rareearth (RE) ions are widely used as the gain medium for fiber lasers and optical fiber amplifiers. However, high concentration doping of rare-earth-ion leads to the concentration quenching resulting in observing less gain in optical amplification. For addressing the concentration quenching problem, a rare-earth metal (RE-M) polymer composite has been proposed by KRI, Inc. to be a waveguide core material. Actually, 10-wt% RE doping into organic polymer materials was already achieved. Hence, realization of compact and high-efficiency waveguide amplifiers and lasers have been anticipated using the RE-M polymer composite. In this paper, a microdispenser is adopted to fabricate a Eu-doped polymer waveguide. Then, it is experimentally confirmed that the low-loss waveguides are fabricated with a high reproducibility. Optical gain is estimated by measuring the amplified spontaneous emission using the variable stripe length method. The fabricated waveguide exhibits an optical gain as high as 7.1 dB/cm at 616-nm wavelength.
AB - We successfully fabricate polymer waveguides with Europium-Aluminum (Eu-Al) polymer composite core using the Mosquito method that utilizes a microdispenser for realizing a compact waveguide optical amplifiers and lasers. Rareearth (RE) ions are widely used as the gain medium for fiber lasers and optical fiber amplifiers. However, high concentration doping of rare-earth-ion leads to the concentration quenching resulting in observing less gain in optical amplification. For addressing the concentration quenching problem, a rare-earth metal (RE-M) polymer composite has been proposed by KRI, Inc. to be a waveguide core material. Actually, 10-wt% RE doping into organic polymer materials was already achieved. Hence, realization of compact and high-efficiency waveguide amplifiers and lasers have been anticipated using the RE-M polymer composite. In this paper, a microdispenser is adopted to fabricate a Eu-doped polymer waveguide. Then, it is experimentally confirmed that the low-loss waveguides are fabricated with a high reproducibility. Optical gain is estimated by measuring the amplified spontaneous emission using the variable stripe length method. The fabricated waveguide exhibits an optical gain as high as 7.1 dB/cm at 616-nm wavelength.
KW - amplifier
KW - circular-core polymer waveguide
KW - laser
KW - rare-earth-metal polymer composite
KW - the Mosquito method
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84928799599&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84928799599&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1117/12.2078694
DO - 10.1117/12.2078694
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84928799599
T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
BT - Integrated Optics
A2 - Broquin, Jean-Emmanuel
A2 - Conti, Gualtiero Nunzi
PB - SPIE
T2 - Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XIX
Y2 - 9 February 2015 through 11 February 2015
ER -