Mechanisms of optical losses in Bi:SiO2 glass fibers - OSA Publishing

Mechanisms of optical losses in Bi:SiO2 glass fibers Alexander S. Zlenko,* Valery M. Mashinsky, Ludmila D. Iskhakova, Sergey L. Semjonov, Vasiliy V. Koltashev, Nikita M. Karatun, and Evgeny M. Dianov Fiber Optics Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov Street, 119333 Moscow, Russia * [email protected]

Abstract: The mechanisms of optical losses in bismuth-doped silica glass (Bi:SiO2) and fibers were studied. It was found that in the fibers of this composition the up-conversion processes occur even at bismuth concentrations lower than 0.02 at.%. Bi:SiO2 core holey fiber drawn under oxidizing conditions was investigated. The absorption spectrum of this fiber has no bands of the bismuth infrared active center. Annealing of this fiber under reducing conditions leads to the formation of the IR absorption bands of the bismuth active center (BAC) and to the simultaneous growth of background losses. Under the realized annealing conditions (argon atmosphere, Tmax = 1100°C, duration 30 min) the BAC concentration reaches its maximum and begins to decrease in the process of excessive Bi reduction, while the background losses only increase. It was shown that the cause of these background losses is the absorption of light by nanoparticles of metallic bismuth formed in bismuth-doped glasses as a result of reduction of a part of the bismuth ions to Bi0 and their following aggregation. The growth of background losses occurs owing to the increase of the concentration and the size of the metallic bismuth nanoparticles. ©2012 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (140.3510) Lasers, fiber; (060.2290) Fiber materials; (060.2310) Fiber optics; (160.2540) Fluorescent and luminescent materials.

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Received 2 Aug 2012; revised 14 Sep 2012; accepted 17 Sep 2012; published 25 Sep 2012

8 October 2012 / Vol. 20, No. 21 / OPTICS EXPRESS 23186

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1. Introduction It is known that bismuth fiber lasers, depending on the composition of the core, generate light in the range 1140-1550 nm [1–7]. So, the bismuth-doped fibers are promising as an optical amplifier medium for broadening of the traditional signal transmission spectral range in fiberoptic communication lines [8–11]. However, the most effective bismuth lasers can be created

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only at a very low concentration of bismuth, namely