Visible and near infra-red up-conversion in Tm3+/Yb3+ co-doped silica fibers under 980 nm excitation.

The spectroscopic properties of Tm(3+)/Yb(3+) co-doped silica fibers under excitation at 980 nm are reported. Three distinct up-conversion fluorescence bands were observed in the visible to near infra-red regions. The blue and red fluorescence bands at 475 and 650 nm, respectively, were found to originate from the (1)G(4) level of Tm(3+). A three step up-conversion process was established as the populating mechanism for these fluorescence bands. The fluorescence band at 800 nm was found to originate from two possible transitions in Tm(3+); one being the transition from the (3)H(4) to (3)H(6) manifold which was found to dominate at low pump powers; the other being the transition from the (1)G(4) to (3)H(6) level which dominates at higher pump powers. The fluorescence lifetime of the (3)H(4) and (3)F(4) levels of Tm(3+) and (2)F(5/2) level of Yb(3+) were studied as a function of Yb(3+) concentration, with no significant energy back transfer from Tm(3+) to Yb(3+) observed.

Thermalization effects between upper levels of green fluorescence in Er-doped silica fibers.

We present a spectroscopic study of the green fluorescence resulting from pump excited-state absorption in Er-doped silica fibers excited in the 800-nm range. The absorption and emission bands are selectively attributed to the (4)S(3/2) and (2)H(11/2) levels. The fluorescence response at two excitation wavelengths, the temperature behavior, and lifetime measurements demonstrate a fast thermalization between the (4)S(3/2) and (2)H(11/2) levels. This explains an important part of the (2)H(11/2) emission and the increase of the fluorescence intensity at high temperature.

Self-referenced point temperature sensor based on a fluorescence intensity ratio in Yb(3+)-doped silica fiber.

An optical fiber temperature sensor, based on the fluorescence intensity ratio from the (2)F (5/2)(a) and (2)F(5/2)(b) Stark sublevels in ytterbium-doped silica fiber, has been investigated. Results of a sensor prototype demonstrate an accuracy near 1 degrees C in a 600 degrees C temperature range. Changes in the fluorescence intensity ratio because of variation in pump power, pump wavelength, and induced fiber bending loss are demonstrated to be small, supporting development of a practical sensor based on the technique described.

1.2-µm transitions in erbium-doped fibers: the possibility of quasi-distributed temperature sensors.

We propose the principle of a high-dynamic, quasi-distributed temperature sensor based on the behavior of the 1.13- and the 1.24-µm emission lines in erbium-doped silica fibers. The ratio of fluorescent intensity of these lines presents a temperature dynamic of more than 11 dB between room temperature and 600 °C. As the lower level of these transitions is not the fundamental, the emission lines are absorption free, and no dependence of the intensity ratio of the two lines has been observed, with power and wavelength pump variations permitting the realization of self-calibrated quasi-distributed sensors.

Erbium-doped silica fibers for intrinsic fiber-optic temperature sensors.

The variation in the green intensity ratio ((2)H(11/2) and (4)S(3/2) energy levels to the ground state) of Er ions in silica fibers has been studied as a function of temperature. The different processes that are used to determine the population of these levels are investigated, in particular 800-nm excited-state absorption in Er-doped fibers and 980-nm energy transfer, in Yb-Er-codoped fibers. The invariance of the intensity ratio at a fixed temperature with respect to power, wavelength, and doped fiber length has been investigated and shown to permit the realization of a high-dynamic-range (greater than 600 °C), autocalibrated fiber-optic temperature sensor.

Conception and characterization of a dual-concentric-core erbium-doped dispersion-compensating fiber.

We present an erbium-doped dispersion-compensating fiber made up of two asymmetric concentric cores, inner and outer matched claddings, and erbium located in the central core only. We demonstrate a high negative chromatic dispersion value [-700 ps/(nm km) at 1568 nm], significant modification of the gain spectrum compared with that of a classic erbium-doped fiber amplifier, and 30-dB peak small-signal gain at 1535 and 1553 nm.

Fabrication parameter optimization of a low-threshold high-efficiency proton-exchanged waveguide laser in Nd:LiTaO(3).

Knowing the correlation between the Nd(3+) excited-state lifetime in proton-exchanged waveguides and the phase diagram of the H(x)Li(1-x)TaO(3) compound permits optimized waveguide fabrication parameters to be found. These have been used to produce a Nd:LiTaO(3) waveguide laser with a threshold of 2.9 mW and a slope efficiency of 33%, in good agreement with the best predicted values. Nevertheless this component suffers from instabilities because of the photorefractive effect.