Electron-Irradiation and Photo-Excitation Darkening and Bleaching of Yb Doped Silica Fibers: Comparison

Alexander V. Kir’yanov

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DOI: 10.4236/opj.2011.14026                

Abstract

We report a comparative experimental study of the attenuation spectra transformations for a series of Yb doped alumino-germano silicate fibers with different contents of Yb³⁺ dopants, which arise as the result of irradiation either by a beam of high-energy electrons or by resonant (into the 977-nm absorption peak of YbYb³⁺ ions) optical pumping. The experimental data obtained reveal that in the two circumstances, substantial and complex but different in appearance changes occur within the resonant absorption band of YbYb³⁺ ions and in the off-resonance background loss of the fibers. Possible mechanisms responsible for these spectral changes are discussed.

Keywords

Ytterbium Doped Silica Fibers, Photodarkening, Electron Irradiation

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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