Linear and Nonlinear Optical Properties of Si Nanoparticles/ Er-Ions Doped Optical Fiber

An alumino–germano–silica glass fiber doped with silicon nanoparticles and erbium ions was fabricated using the modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) method. Optical properties of the glass fiber were investigated using a Judd–Ofelt analysis. It was found that incorporating silicon nanoparticles with erbium ions did not alter Er-related optical properties of the silica glass fiber. The incorporation of silicon particles in a fiber core caused wide band absorption from 480 nm to 1200 nm. A third order optical nonlinearity of the Si–Er-doped alumino–germano–silica glass fiber was measured to be about 3.8$\,\times {\hbox {10}} ^{-15} ~{\hbox {m}}^{2} /{\hbox {W}}$.