Waveguide amplifiers in sputtered films of Er3+-doped gallium lanthanum sulfide glass

Waveguide amplifiers fabricated in Er3+-doped gallium lanthanum sulfide (GLS) glass are demonstrated. GLS is deposited onto fused silica substrates by RF magnetron sputtering, and waveguides are patterned by use of the lift-off technique. The waveguides exhibit a total internal gain of 6.7 dB (2.8 dB/cm) for a signal with a wavelength of 1.55 mum. This experiment is, to the best of our knowledge, the first demonstration of gain in an Er3+-doped chalcogenide glass waveguide. The fabrication methods we apply, if used with other rare earth dopants, could potentially be employed to produce sources operating in the mid-IR.