Abstract

Laser radar, optical communications, and signal processing are a few applications that can benefit from advances in efficient erbium doped 1.55 μm spectral-band gain materials. Planar waveguide devices operating in this spectral region have the potential to be integrated ‘on-chip’, and enhance the ethos of low-cost, and micro form-factors for convenient integration into existing systems. A flexible and advancing waveguide fabrication technique is ultra-fast laser inscription (ULI); this has been demonstrated to write optically guiding structures in either athermal or thermal regimes [1,2].

© 2015 IEEE