Oxide glasses for fast photonic switching: A comparative study

Abstract

New developments involving nonlinear optical effects are conditioned by the improvement of pertinent figures of merit involving the characteristics of nonlinear optical materials within the ‘‘transparency’’ regime of their optic windows. This paper discusses, from a global standpoint, the maximum values of nonlinear refractive index n2, and of its ratio n2/α relative to intrinsic attenuation α, attainable for a multicomponent oxide glass. It also locates and analyses those classes of multicomponent oxide glass that, from the standpoint of these two measures, appear to be the most promising candidates for use as fast photonic switching elements in the 1–2.5-μm wavelength regime.

Structural origin of the nonlinear optical properties of lead niobium germanate film glasses

“…According Lines bond-orbital theory this may have a dramatic effect on their linear and nonlinear optical properties. 2,5,15,18 However, the potential impact of the film glass structure on the nonlinear response has not been considered up to date.…”

“…They present excellent transmission in the telecommunication windows, large refractive indices (typically above two) and finally, nonlinear refractive indices that are orders of magnitude larger than those of conventional silicate or borate glasses. [3][4][5][6] The magnitude of the nonlinear response is related to the high hyperpolarizability of the HM and TM cations. [3][4][5][6][7] This characteristic is of extraordinary relevance for all-optical switching or power limiting among other applications.…”

“…[3][4][5][6] The magnitude of the nonlinear response is related to the high hyperpolarizability of the HM and TM cations. [3][4][5][6][7] This characteristic is of extraordinary relevance for all-optical switching or power limiting among other applications. In this context, glasses containing Nb 2 O 5 are of particular interest due to the close relationship between the nonlinear optical response and the Nb 2 O 5 content in the glass.…”

Wide transparency range and high refractive index lead–niobium-germanate glass thin films

“…[4,5] Furthermore, HMO glasses have high linear (n >2) and nonlinear (n 2 >10 2 times that of silica) refractive indices. [1,2,3,7] The n 2 value, although moderate when compared with composite materials containing metal or semiconductor nanoparticles, could be high enough for the development of integrated nonlinear devices in the near-mid infrared, since it is combined with low optical absorption and high n values. The latter leads to strong confinement of the light propagating in waveguides made of these glasses and thus, to lower the power required to switch on the nonlinear response.…”

“…The range of envisaged applications include optical waveguides for ultra-low loss communications in the range 2.5-3.0 m and more efficient lasers, amplifiers or nonlinear devices such as all-optical switches among others. [1,2,3,4,5] Heavy metal oxide (HMO) glasses, characterized by their content of high molecular weight metal oxides, mainly Bi or Pb, exhibit physical properties that make them attractive candidates for these applications: long term chemical stability when compared to other types of glasses, [6] broad transparency range in the near-mid infrared spectral region and low phonon energy (~ 800 cm -1 ) when compared to other oxide glasses. [1,2,3,7] In particular, the low phonon energy is very attractive for hosting rare earth ions since it is essential to achieve long luminiscence lifetimes and high quantum efficiencies.…”