15-dB amplification at 1.06 μm in ion-exchanged silicate glasswaveguides

The authors report a 15-dB amplification and a pump efficiency almost 30 times larger than that reported previously at 1.06 μm in ion-exchanged waveguides. The potassium-sodium exchanged channel guides used were fabricated by thermal diffusion in a 2% Nd³⁺-doped silicate glass. Measurements of the refractive index profile, in the waveguides, absorption and fluorescence spectra, fluorescence lifetime, and optical gain are presented