Abstract

Recently there has been a growing interest in miniature solid-state waveguide lasers due to the potential for array waveguide fabrication, which appears very promising to reduce cost and device size in multi-wavelength-division multiplexing optical network. Among various approaches, the ion-exchange technique represents a reliable, rugged and low cost method. Recently, single-frequency laser array have been demonstrated using Ag-Na [1] and K-Na [2] ion exchange. In this paper we report on the fabrication, by the Ag-Na ion exchange technique, and characterization of a single-frequency Er-Yb waveguide laser array at 1534 nm with fiber coupled output. The active substrate is a suitably designed phosphate glass with Er and Yb concentrations of 2×10²⁶ ions/m³ and 6×10²⁶ ion/m³, respectively. In the first fabrication step the substrate is immersed in fused salt at 345°C for 35 minutes and the Ag concentration is adjusted to produce a maximum refractive index change of 0.02. To reduce waveguide loss a second burial step is then performed, obtaining a mode-field profile compatible with standard SMF-28 telecom fiber [3].

© 2001 EPS