Effect of Zn addition on non-resonant third-order optical nonlinearity of the Cu-doped germano-silicate optical glass fiber

Cu/Zn-codoped germano-silicate optical glass fiber was manufactured by using the modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) process and solution doping process. To investigate the reduction effect of Zn addition on Cu metal formation in the core of the Cu/Zn-codoped germano-silicate optical glass fiber, the optical absorption property and the non-resonant third-order optical nonlinearity were measured. Absorption peaks at 435 nm and 469 nm in the Cu/Zn-codoped germano-silicate optical glass fiber were contributed to Cu metal particles and ZnO semiconductor particles, respectively. The effective non-resonant optical nonlinearity, gamma, of the Cu/Zn-codoped germano-silicate optical glass fiber was measured to be 1.5097 W(-1) x km(-1) by using the continuous-wave self-phase modulation method. The gamma of the Cu/Zn-codoped germano-silicate optical glass fiber was about four times larger than that of the reference germano-silicate optical glass fiber without any dopants. The increase of the effective non-resonant optical nonlinearity, gamma, of the Cu/Zn-codoped germano-silicate optical glass fiber, can be attributed to the enhanced nonlinear polarization due to incorporated ZnO semiconductor particles and Cu metal ions in the glass network. The Cu/Zn-codoped germano-silicate optical glass fiber showed high nonlinearity and low transmission loss at the optical communication wavelength, which makes it suitable for high-speed-high-capacity optical communication systems.