Sensitized NIR Erbium(III) Emission in Confined Geometries: A New Strategy for Light Emitters in Telecom Applications

摘要

Infrared light sources, especially those falling into the silicantransparency windows, play an essential role in telecom technologiesnwhere signal transmission is based on silica optical fibers. In longnhaul transmission, silica remains unchallenged; however, local areannetworks, data links, and computer networks consisting ofncomplex high density circuitry require low cost alternativensolutions for signal generation and distribution. Erbium-dopednmaterials have attracted considerable attention in the past fewnyears because of their potential applications in optoelectronicsnand telecommunications. The intraconfigurational 4f-4f transitionsnbetween the first excited level (4I13/2) and the ground state (4I15/2)noccurring at ca. 1.54 μm1 corresponds in fact to the window ofnminimum attenuation in the silica-based optical fibers currently usednin optical communications.