title: Target dependent femtosecond laser plasma implantation dynamics in enabling silica for high density erbium doping.
abstract: Chemical dissimilarity of tellurium oxide with silica glass increases phase separation and crystallization tendency when mixed and melted for making a glass. We report a novel technique for incorporating an Er(3+)-doped tellurite glass composition into silica substrates through a femtosecond (fs) laser generated plasma assisted process. The engineered material consequently exhibits the spectroscopic properties of Er(3+)-ions, which are unachievable in pure silica and implies this as an ideal material for integrated photonics platforms. Formation of a well-defined metastable and homogeneous glass structure with Er(3+)-ions in a silica network, modified with tellurite has been characterized using high-resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The chemical and structural analyses using HRTEM, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and laser excitation techniques, confirm that such fs-laser plasma implanted glasses may be engineered for significantly higher concentration of Er(3+)-ions without clustering, validated by the record high lifetime-density product 0.96 × 10(19) s.cm(-3). Characterization of planar optical layers and photoluminescence emission spectra were undertaken to determine their thickness, refractive indices and photoluminescence properties, as a function of Er(3+) concentration via different target glasses. The increased Er(3+) content in the target glass enhance the refractive index and photoluminescence intensity of the modified silica layer whilst the lifetime and thickness decrease.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Materials Research, School of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Leeds, LS2 9 JT, UK.
authors.forename: Jayakrishnan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chandrappan
authors.affiliation: Institute for Materials Research, School of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Leeds, LS2 9 JT, UK.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: Institute for Materials Research, School of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Leeds, LS2 9 JT, UK.
authors.forename: Tarun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kakkar
authors.affiliation: Centre for Energy Research, Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science (MFA), H-1121 Budapest, Konkoly-Thege M. út 29-33, Hungary.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Petrik
authors.affiliation: Centre for Energy Research, Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science (MFA), H-1121 Budapest, Konkoly-Thege M. út 29-33, Hungary.
authors.forename: Emil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Agocs
authors.affiliation: Centre for Energy Research, Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science (MFA), H-1121 Budapest, Konkoly-Thege M. út 29-33, Hungary.
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zolnai
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microwave and photonics, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Steenson
authors.affiliation: Institute for Materials Research, School of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Leeds, LS2 9 JT, UK.
authors.forename: Animesh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jha
authors.affiliation: Institute for Materials Research, School of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Leeds, LS2 9 JT, UK.
authors.forename: Gin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jose