摘要：Chemical dissimilarity of tellurium oxide with silica glass increases phase separation and crystallization tendency when mixed and melted for making a glass. We report a novel technique for incorporating an Er3+-doped tellurite glass composition into silica substrates through a femtosecond (fs) laser generated plasma assisted process. The engineered material consequently exhibits the spectroscopic properties of Er3+-ions, which are unachievable in pure silica and implies this as an ideal material for integrated photonics platforms. Formation of a well-defined metastable and homogeneous glass structure with Er3+-ions in a silica network, modified with tellurite has been characterized using high-resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The chemical and structural analyses using HRTEM, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and laser excitation techniques, confirm that such fs-laser plasma implanted glasses may be engineered for significantly higher concentration of Er3+-ions without clustering, validated by the record high lifetime-density product 0.96 × 1019 s.cm−3. Characterization of planar optical layers and photoluminescence emission spectra were undertaken to determine their thickness, refractive indices and photoluminescence properties, as a function of Er3+ concentration via different target glasses. The increased Er3+ content in the target glass enhance the refractive index and photoluminescence intensity of the modified silica layer whilst the lifetime and thickness decrease.
