阅读说明：本技术 在掺镨的常规玻璃和纤维中的高效发射 (High efficiency emission in praseodymium doped conventional glass and fibers ) 是由 M·P·罗伯特 于 2020-02-19 设计创作，主要内容包括：在掺镨的常规玻璃和纤维中的高效发射。一种光学材料,包括：二氧化硅主体；以及,镨掺杂剂；其中镨原子被配置为在所述二氧化硅主体中形成纳米团簇。另外,所述光学材料可以含有镱共掺杂剂。纳米团簇包括Ge、Te、Ta、Lu和/或F、Cl,以使多声子猝灭最小化。此外,可以将所述纳米团簇封装在低声子能量壳中,以使向主体基质的能量转移最小化。(High efficiency emission in praseodymium doped conventional glass and fibers. An optical material comprising: a silica body; and, a praseodymium dopant; wherein praseodymium atoms are configured to form nanoclusters in the silica body. In addition, the optical material may contain an ytterbium co-dopant. Nanoclusters include Ge, Te, Ta, Lu and/or F, Cl to minimize multiphoton quenching. Furthermore, the nanoclusters may be encapsulated in a low phonon energy shell to minimize energy transfer to the host matrix.)

1. An optical material comprising:

a silica body; and

a praseodymium dopant;

wherein praseodymium atoms are configured to form nanoclusters in the silica body.

2. The optical material of claim 1, wherein the optical material further comprises an ytterbium co-dopant.

3. The optical material of claim 1, wherein the nanoclusters further contain at least one of the following metals: ge. Te, Ta, Lu to minimize multiphoton quenching.

4. The optical material of claim 1, wherein the nanoclusters further contain at least one of the following anions: f^-、Cl^-To minimize multiphoton quenching.

5. The optical material of claim 1, wherein the nanoclusters are configured to have excited state absorption that results in gain in the 1.3 micron wavelength region.

6. The optical material of claim 1, wherein the nanoclusters are configured to have excited state absorption that extends the gain spectrum to longer wavelengths in the 1.3 micron region.

7. The optical material of claim 1, wherein the nanoclusters are encapsulated.

8. The optical material of claim 7, wherein the nanoclusters are encapsulated by depleting praseodymium from the surface of the nanoclusters.

9. The optical material of claim 7, wherein the nanoclusters are encapsulated by coating them with an undoped or optimized component to isolate active ions from the host matrix.

10. An optical fiber amplifier comprising an optical fiber made of an optical material, the optical material comprising:

a silica body; and

a praseodymium dopant;

wherein praseodymium atoms are configured to form nanoclusters in the silica body.

11. The optical fiber amplifier of claim 10, wherein the optical material further comprises an ytterbium co-dopant.

12. The fiber amplifier of claim 10, wherein said nanoclusters further comprise at least one of the following metals: ge. Te, Ta, Lu to minimize multiphoton quenching.

13. The fiber amplifier of claim 10, wherein said nanoclusters further comprise at least one of the following anions: f^-、Cl^-To minimize multiphoton quenching.

14. The fiber amplifier of claim 10, wherein the nanoclusters are configured to have excited state absorption that results in gain of the optical material in the 1.3 micron wavelength region.

15. The fiber amplifier of claim 10, wherein the nanoclusters are configured to have excited state absorption that extends the gain spectrum to longer wavelengths in the 1.3 micron region.

16. The fiber amplifier of claim 10, wherein said nanoclusters are encapsulated.

17. The optical fiber amplifier of claim 16, wherein said nanoclusters are encapsulated by depleting praseodymium from the surface of said nanoclusters.

18. The fiber amplifier of claim 16, wherein said nanoclusters are encapsulated by coating said nanoclusters with an undoped or optimized composition to isolate active ions from the host matrix.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to optical materials, and more particularly to praseodymium doped optical fibers.

Background

Due to the interaction with the matrix (matrix), multiple phonon quenching occurs at 1.3 μm transitions in praseodymium (Pr), which fundamentally completely eliminates the radiation emission in silica-based hosts. It can be minimized by choosing a low phonon energy host (e.g. fluoride glass). Although the optical loss in the fluoride fiber is lower than silica in the mid-infrared (mid-IR), the optical loss in the silica fiber is much lower at 1.3 μm, which is advantageous for fiber lasers and amplifiers. Concentration quenching has also been shown to limit the dopant concentration in mid-infrared hosts (e.g., fluoride glasses).

Disclosure of Invention

To overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages, the present application proposes that doping of erbium (Er) nanoclusters in silicon dioxide shows a high efficiency that can be extended to Pr, which may allow for higher dopant concentrations and better performance.

In addition, it is possible to tune the formation of nanoclusters to shift the Excited State Absorption (ESA) occurring in the 1.3 μm window to longer wavelengths. This would allow the device to extend the operating range in this window, which is highly desirable.

It is an object of the present disclosure to explore the advantages of Pr-doped nanoclusters in silica fibers so that the techniques developed for silica fibers can be used for this application.

One embodiment of the present invention provides an optical material comprising: a silicon dioxide body; and a praseodymium dopant; wherein the praseodymium atoms are configured to form silicon-rich nanoclusters in the silicon dioxide body.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an optical fiber amplifier including an optical fiber made of an optical material including: a silica body; and a praseodymium dopant; wherein the praseodymium atoms are configured to form silicon-rich nanoclusters in the silicon dioxide body.

In addition, the optical material may contain an ytterbium co-dopant. The nanoclusters may contain Ge, Te, Ta, Lu and/or F, Cl and Pr, or the nanoclusters may consist entirely of Ge, Te, Ta, Lu and/or F, Cl and Pr to minimize polyphonic quenching. Furthermore, nanoclusters may be encapsulated in a low phonon energy shell to minimize energy transfer to the host matrix.

Detailed Description

In the description of the embodiments of the invention disclosed herein, any reference to direction or orientation is merely for convenience of description and does not in any way limit the scope of the invention. Relative terms such as "lower", "upper", "horizontal", "vertical", "above", "below", "up" and "bottom" and derivatives thereof (e.g., "horizontally", "downwardly", "upwardly", etc.) should be construed to refer to the described orientation. These relative terms are for convenience of description only and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation unless otherwise specifically stated. Terms such as "attached," "… … attached" (affixed), "connected," "coupled," "interconnected," and the like refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures, as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships, unless expressly described otherwise. Furthermore, the features and advantages of the present invention are described with reference to exemplary embodiments. The invention must therefore expressly not be limited to such exemplary embodiments, which illustrate some possible non-limiting combinations of features, which may be present alone or in combination with other features; the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

While the present invention describes the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense, but rather provides examples of the invention which are presented for purposes of illustration only to suggest themselves to those of ordinary skill in the art of the advantages and construction of the invention.

Embodiments of the present invention propose the doping of praseodymium nanoclusters into a silica preform to draw a low loss fiber suitable for the fabrication of 1.3 μm amplifiers. Nanoclusters are designed to minimize the effects of quenching from aggregation and phonon interactions. The advantages of this technique are low loss fiber in the region of interest (the region of interest), cost, and potential migration of the ESA spectrum to longer wavelengths.

One embodiment of the present invention uses efficient Pr-doped nanoclusters in silica fibers to achieve a relative efficiency to that of the Pr-doped nanoclustersExcellent performance for fluorochemical fibers. One preferred embodiment involves co-doping with Yb for optimal performance. In one embodiment of the invention, nanoclusters include, but are not limited to, heavy metals such as germanium (Ge), tellurium (Te), tantalum (Ta), lutetium (Lu), etc., and/or anions such as fluorine (F), to minimize multiphoton quenching^-) And/or chlorine (Cl)^-)。

It may also be advantageous to encapsulate Pr-doped nanoclusters in a low phonon energy shell to minimize energy transfer to the host matrix. In one embodiment, the nanoclusters are encapsulated by depleting praseodymium of the surface of the nanoclusters. In another embodiment, nanoclusters are encapsulated by coating them with an undoped or optimized component that isolates the active ions from the host matrix.

While the present invention has been particularly described in relation to several illustrated embodiments thereof, it is not to be limited to any such details or embodiments or any specific embodiments, but rather should be construed with reference to the appended claims so as to provide the broadest interpretation of such claims in light of the prior art and, therefore, to effectively encompass the intended scope of the invention. Furthermore, the invention has been described above in terms of embodiments foreseen by the inventor for which an enabling description was available, although insubstantial modifications of the invention, not presently foreseen, may nonetheless represent equivalents thereto.