Co-doping effects in rare-earth-doped planar waveguides

Results on rare-earth-doped lasers and amplifiers in planar silica waveguides fabricated by flame hydrolysis deposition (FHD) and reactive ion etching (RIE) are presented. The authors review their results on the optimisation of doping levels, co-dopant species, fusing temperature, fusing time and glass composition to reduce both scatter loss and ion-ion interactions. Two different doping techniques have been investigated and the planar films produced by each are compared. These glasses have been used to produce waveguide lasers in both Nd3+ and Er3+ doped silica.