Zirconia and zirconia-organically modified silicate distributed feedback waveguide lasers tunable in the visible

Abstract

Zirconia and zirconia-organically modified silicate waveguides of refractive index from 1.56 to 1.64 and thickness from 0.6 to 1.4 μm were prepared by the sol-gel method. Narrow linewidth (<0.5 nm) lasing was observed in dye-doped zirconia and zirconia-organically modified silicates waveguides. Tuning of the output wavelength was achieved by varying the period of the gain modulation generated by a nanosecond Nd:yttritium–aluminum–garnet laser at 532 nm. Tuning ranges were 586–618 nm and 629–657 nm for rhodamine 6G and rhodamine B, respectively. The threshold pump energy was about 50 μJ for rhodamine 6G-doped zirconia film on glass substrates.