Rare earth doped fluoride glass ceramics: Fabrication of waveguides by PVD and application

Er³⁺-doped fluoride glass ceramics planar waveguides containing LaF3 or binary LaF3-ZrF4 nanocrystals have been fabricated by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD). A quantitative analysis of the photoluminescence of the 1.54 µm emission band of Er³⁺ ions has demonstrated that erbium ions are partitioned in both crystals and vitreous phase. The solubility of Er³⁺ in the segregated LaF3 nanocrystals can reach 30 mol%. The emission bandwidth has been found to be greater than that of the precursor glass (71 nm at the half-height width). In order to increase the luminescence of Er³⁺, codoping with Yb³⁺ and Ce³⁺ has also been studied. The high Er³⁺ concentration and spectral width could make this nanostructured fluoride material suitable for planar amplifier in the C telecommunication band.