Optical Evaluation on Nd^3+-doped Phosphate Glasses for O-band Amplification

We have fabricated and characterized optically Nd3+-doped phosphate [Li2O-CaO-BaO-Al2O3-La2O3-P2O5 (LCBALP)] glasses for drawing single-mode glass fiber. The F-4(3/2) -> I-4(13/2) transition emission from the Nd3+ is at the 1.327 mu m wavelength with a full width at half-maximum of 43 nm, and the spontaneous transition probability and quantum efficiency are calculated to be 1836 s(-1) and 52%, respectively. The maximum stimulated emission cross sections for F-4(3/2) -> I-4(11/2) and F-4(3/2) -> I-4(13/2) transitions are derived to be 1.82 x 10(-20) cm(2) and 6.97 x 10(-21) cm(2), respectively, and the theoretical gain coefficient at the 1.327 mu m wavelength is evaluated to be 0.182 dB/cm when the fractional factor of the excited neodymium ions equals 0.6, which indicates that Nd3+-doped LCBALP phosphate glasses are potential candidates in developing O-band optical fiber amplifiers. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America