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Er3+-doped silica-based microcavities and microspheres

Maurizio Ferrari, C. Armellini, Simone Berneschi, S.N.B. Bhaktha, Andrea Chiappini, Alessandro Chiasera, Patrice Féron, Y. Jestin, E. Moser, Gualtiero Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, Giancarlo C. Righini, G. Speranza, C. Tosello

Published Apr 28, 2008• 0 citations
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Abstract

Two different silica-based glass systems with valuable optical and spectroscopic properties in the mu1.5 band, exploited in optical microcavities, are presented. First, we report on Er3+-activated core-shell silica spheres prepared by sol-gel process. The core consists of a silica sphere of 270 nm in diameter, while the shell is an Er2O3-SiO2 film. The second system is an Er3+-activated microcavity fabricated by rf-sputtering technique. The cavity is constituted of an Er3+-doped SiO2 layer inserted between two Bragg mirrors, fabricated by alternately stacking five TiO2 and five SiO2 thin films. Optical and spectroscopic properties were assessed, and the two systems were characterized from morphological and structural point of view.

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Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids•Aug 29, 2006•8 citations
Two different silica-based glass systems with valuable optical and spectroscopic properties in the mu1.5 band, exploited in optical microcavities, are presented. First, we report on Er3+-activated core-shell silica spheres prepared by sol-gel process. The core consists of a silica sphere of 270 nm in diameter, while the shell is an Er2O3-SiO2 film. The second system is an Er3+-activated microcavity fabricated by rf-sputtering technique. The cavity is constituted of an Er3+-doped SiO2 layer inserted between two Bragg mirrors, fabricated by alternately stacking five TiO2 and five SiO2 thin films. Optical and spectroscopic properties were assessed, and the two systems were characterized from morphological and structural point of view.
Rare earth-activated 1-D photonic crystals were fabricated by RF-sputtering technique. The cavity is constituted by an Er3+-doped SiO2 active layer inserted between two Bragg reflectors consisting of ten pairs of SiO2/TiO2 layers. Scanning electron microscopy is employed to put in evidence the quality of the sample, the homogeneities of the layers thickness and the good adhesion among them. Near infrared transmittance and variable angle reflectance spectra confirm the presence of a stop band from 1500 nm to 2000 nm with a cavity resonance centered at 1749 nm at 0° and a quality factor of 890. The influence of the cavity on the ⁴I₁₃/₂ -->⁴I₁₅/₂ emission band of Er3+ ion is also demonstrated.
Since the advent of vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers, a renewed interest has also emerged for the spontaneous emission from Fabry-Pérot microcavities. Changes in spontaneous emission characteristics in a 1D microcavity were predicted long ago,1 but have been demonstrated only recently in the optical domain for solid-state, e.g. semiconductor, structures where changes in spectral purity, lifetime, and emission intensity were observed.2 However, the interpretation of these effects is somewhat obscure, because these structures are highly absorbing and often involve band-to-band, rather than atomic, transitions. In the present study, we use optically transparent Si/SiO2 cavities, consisting of two coplanar Si/SiO2 distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR) around a (λ/2) SiO2 active region, which was doped with ~0.2 at.% Er3+ ions through MeV ion implantation. The Er3+ ions in SiO2 exhibit a sharp, atomic-like, intra-4f transition around λem=1.54 μm, which is effectively shielded by the outerlying filled 5s2 and 5p6 shells. Recently, we reported on the considerable enhancement of the spontaneous emission intensity out of such an Er-doped microcavity.3 In this paper, we present a more detailed study of the modified spontaneous emission, including fluorescence decay measurements to study the effect of the cavity on the spontaneous emission rate.
Er 3+ ions produce a sharp line emission that has small absorption cross section, long radiative lifetime, and is independent of external perturbations. These optical properties of the Er3+ ions limit the pumping efficiency and tunability of the emission line. In this work we present a study in which Er3+ emission was modified by coupling an ensemble of Er3+ ions to a microcavity resonance. The optical response of an optical cavity that consists of an Er2O3 layer confined between Si/SiO2 distributed Bragg reflectors is studied. When the cavity is in resonance with the optical transition of the Er3+ ions, the resonances in the reflectivity spectra split. The results are explained by a standard semiclassical model of atom–photon coupling.
Erbium is a rare-earth metal that, when incorporated in a solid, can emit light at a wavelength of 1.5 μm. It plays a key role in current day telecommunication technology as the principle ingredient of optical fiber amplifiers. In this thesis the control of the Er spontaneous emission in three different types of microphotonic materials is described. Part I of this thesis focuses on the effect of a metallo-dielectric interface on the spontaneous emission of optical emitters in silica glass. It is shown that Er ions near a Ag interface can couple to surface plasmons (SPs) via a near-field interaction. By coupling SPs out into the far field, large changes in the Er photoluminescence emission distribution, spectra, and polarization can be observed. The excitation of SPs also results in an increase of the Er photoluminescence decay rate. The observed decay rates are in good agreement with calculations based on a classical dipole oscillator model. From the change in photoluminescence decay rate of Si nanocrystals near a Ag interface it is shown that Si nanocrystals can efficiently excite SPs and have an internal quantum efficiency of 77 %. Part II focuses on the effect of a microcavity on the spontaneous emission of Er and describes how ion implantation can be used to dope dielectric microresonators with optically active Er ions. The fabrication and characterization of an Er ion-implanted silica microsphere resonator is described that shows lasing at 1.5 μm when pumped above its lasing threshold. Ion implantation is also used to dope toroidal microcavities on a Si chip with Er. The microtoroids are doped by either pre-implantation into the SiO2 base material, or by post-implantation in a fully fabricated microtoroid. The optical activation of Er ions in the microtoroid is investigated and Er lasing at 1.5 μm is observed for both types of microcavities with the lowest threshold (4.5 μW) for the pre-implanted microtoroids. Part III describes the fabrication of an Er-doped Si-inverse opal photonic crystal. These photonic crystals can potentially have a photonic bandgap that can fully inhibit the spontaneous emission of on optical emitter. Fabrication criteria are derived for such a photonic crystal, based on the lattice parameter, filling fraction, and Si refractive index. In the opal photonic crystal composed of both Si and SiO2 we show that Er ions can be selectively excited in both the Si and SiO2 part of the photonic crystal by changing the excitation wavelength and/or the measurement temperature.
Spherical SiO2 colloids with two different diameters (175 nm, 340 nm) were doped with erbium at different concentrations. The spheres show sharply peaked photoluminescence centered at 1.535 μm, due to intra-4f transitions in Er3+. From measurements of the Er decay rate for different Er concentrations the decay rate of isolated Er ions (i.e., in absence of concentration quenching) was determined for the two colloid diameters. The data were compared to spontaneous emission rates derived from calculations of the local optical density of states in the colloids. The calculation predicts a large difference in the spontaneous emission rate for both colloid sizes (61 vs 40 s−1), in perfect agreement with the measured data.