Evaluation of absorption and emission cross sections of Er-doped LiNbO/sub 3/ for application to integrated optic amplifiers

The polarization-dependent absorption and emission spectra of the /sup 4/I/sub 13/2/-/sup 4/I/sub 15/2/ transition (/spl lambda//spl sim/1.5 /spl mu/m) in single crystal bulk Er:LiNbO/sub 3/ have been measured. Low-temperature (10 K) measurements of the Stark split energy levels of these two manifolds indicate at least two Er/sup 3+/ sites. McCumber theory is applied to determine the Er:LiNbO/sub 3/ absorption and emission cross sections. These values are used to calculate the gain characteristics of Er:LiNbO/sub 3/ channel waveguides. Calculations indicate that a gain of 10 dB is achievable in a waveguide of several centimeters using /spl sim/20-mW pump power.<
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