Absorption and emission cross sections of Er3+ in Al2O3 waveguides

摘要

Al2O3 slab waveguide films were doped with erbium using ion implantation to a peak concentration of 1.5 at. %. Prism coupling measurements show absorption caused by I-4(15/2) --> I-4(13/2) intra-4f transitions in Er3+ with a maximum at 1.530 mu m of 8 dB/cm. The Er3+ absorption cross section is determined as a function of wavelength. We used the McCumber theory to derive the emission cross section spectrum from the absorption results, which we then compared with the Er3+ photoluminescence spectrum. The peak absorption and emission cross sections are found to be 6 x 10(-21) cm(-2). The results are used to predict the optical gain performance of an Er-doped Al2O3 optical amplifier that operates around 1.5 mu m. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.