Gloria Ischia, Pawel Gluchowski, Anna Lukowiak, Andrea Chiappini, Stefano Varas, Cristina Armellini, Barbara Rossi, Brigitte Boulard, Alessandro Chiasera, Giorgio Speranza, Roberta Ramponi, Gualtiero Nunzi Conti, Damiano Massella, Mourad Benabdesselam, Rolindes Balda, Paola Dentella, Wilfried Blanc, Joaquín Fernández, Lam Thi Ngoc Tran, Alessandro Carpentiero, Maurizio Ferrari, James C. Gates, Shane M. Eaton, Francesco Prudenzano, Pier-John Sazio, Dominik Dorosz, Lidia Zur, Simone Berneschi, Daniele Zonta, Mario Christian Falconi, Giancarlo C. Righini, Franck Mady, CNR Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie [Trento] (IFN), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche [Roma] (CNR), Caratterizzazione e Sviluppo di Materiali per la Fotonica e l'Optoelecttronica (CSMFO), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche [Roma] (CNR)-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche [Roma] (CNR), Universidad del Pais Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea [Espagne] (UPV/EHU), Institut de Physique de Nice (INPHYNI), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA), Istituto di Fisica Applicata 'Nello Carrara' (IFAC), Laboratoire des oxydes et fluorures (LdOF ), Le Mans Université (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC), AGH University of Science and Technology [Krakow, PL] (AGH UST), Politecnico di Bari, Departamento de Física Aplicada I, Escuela Superior de Ingenieros de Bilbao, School 4, Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research [Polish Academy of Sciences], Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN)-Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), Università degli Studi di Trento (UNITN), Physics Department, University of Trento [Trento], Dipartimento di Fisica [Politecnico Milano], Politecnico di Milano [Milan] (POLIMI), Enrico Fermi Center for Study and Research | Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi, Fondazione Bruno Kessler [Trento, Italy] (FBK), Department of civil, environmental and mechanical engineering [Trento], University of Southampton, Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Centro Enrico Fermi, Agence Nationale de la Recherche (France), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France)
Trabajo presentado al XVII Optical Components and Materials, celewbrado en San Francisco, California (USA) del 1 al 6 de febrero de 2020., SnO2-based glass-ceramics activated by rare earth ions have been extensively investigated because of the need to develop reliable fabrication protocols and clarify some interesting optical, structural, and spectroscopic features of the system. There is one important weakness in glass photonics when the rare earth ions are employed as luminescent sources. This is the low absorption cross section of the electronic states of the rare earth ions. A sensitizer is therefore requested. In the last years, we demonstrated that SiO2-SnO2 glass ceramics, presenting a strong absorption cross section in the UV range due to the SnO2 nanocrystal, are effective rare earth ions sensitizers. Another interesting property of the SiO2-SnO2 system is its photorefractivity. The high photorefractivity of sol-gel-derived SnO2-SiO2 glass-ceramic waveguides has been demonstrated in several papers published by our consortium. It has been shown that the UV irradiation induces refractive index change allowing the direct writing of both channel waveguides and Bragg gratings. The results presented in this communication not only demonstrate the viability and outstanding properties of the SiO2- SnO2 glass-ceramics for photonic applications but also put the basis for the fabrication of solid state and integrated lasers. The next steps of the research are the fabrication of the channels and mirrors exploiting the photorefractivity as well as to draw glass ceramic fiber, checking the lasing action and corresponding functional characteristics. Finally, it is worth noting that the dynamic of the energy transfer from the nanocrystals to the rare earth ions is still an exciting open question., This research is performed in the framework of the projects ERANet-LAC “RECOLA” (2017-2019), Centro Fermi MiFo (2017–2020) and NaWaGui (ANR-18-MRS1-0014). WB and MF acknowledge the support of CNR-STM - Short Term Mobility program 2019-2020.