Open AccessInfluence of Tm- or Er-codoping on the photodarkening kinetics in Yb fibers
Author(s) -
Sylvia Jetschke,
Martin Leich,
Sonja Unger,
Anka Schwuchow,
J. Kirchhof
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.19.014473
Subject(s) - photodarkening , materials science , impurity , ion , doping , fiber , optics , optical fiber , ytterbium , kinetics , fiber laser , optoelectronics , composite material , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
We investigated photodarkening (PD) parameters of Yb/Al-doped silica fibers as a function of the concentration of additional rare earth ions like Tm or Er. It was found that both Tm and Er cause a decrease in Yb inversion followed by a reduction of PD in the case of Er, whereas Tm-codoping with more than 10 mol-ppm can strongly accelerate the process and also increase the PD loss. However, contrary to [1], we conclude that the typical PD behavior of Yb/Al fibers is an intrinsic feature of this fiber type and not caused by trace impurities of Tm (< 1 mol-ppm) unintentionally incorporated by the raw materials during fiber preparation.