Abstract

Ion clustering is one of the major dissipative processes in the operation of Er³⁺-doped planar waveguide amplifiers and heavily doped fiber amplifiers. We propose and demonstrate a nondestructive method for measuring the fraction of erbium ions in doped planar waveguides and fibers that are quenched by ultrafast parasitic energy transfer in ion pairs or clusters. The method is based on unsaturable absorption measurements in the 980-nm absorption band. By combining transmission data at resonance with the corresponding data for radiation outside the absorption band, the influence of background and coupling losses can be eliminated.

© 1998 Optical Society of America

Effects of ion clusters on the performance of a heavily doped erbium-doped fiber laser

H. L. An, E. Y. B. Pun, H. D. Liu, and X. Z. Lin
Opt. Lett. 23(15) 1197-1199 (1998)

Experimental evidence of differences in the absorption spectra of clustered and isolated ions in erbium-doped fibers

B. N. Samson, W. H. Loh, and J. P. de Sandro
Opt. Lett. 22(23) 1763-1765 (1997)

Uniform upconversion in high-concentration Er³⁺-doped soda lime silicate and aluminosilicate glasses

M. P. Hehlen, N. J. Cockroft, T. R. Gosnell, A. J. Bruce, G. Nykolak, and J. Shmulovich
Opt. Lett. 22(11) 772-774 (1997)

Concentration quenching and clustering effects in Er:YAG-derived all-glass optical fiber

A. Vonderhaar, M. P. Stone, J. Campbell, T. W. Hawkins, J. Ballato, and P. D. Dragic
Opt. Mater. Express 11(10) 3587-3599 (2021)

Indirect measurement of the magnitude of ion clustering at high doping densities in Er:ZBLAN fibers

Balaji Srinivasan, Ravinder K. Jain, and Gérard Monnom
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 17(2) 178-181 (2000)