Synthesis of Nickel-doped Transparent Glass-ceramics for Ultra-broadband Optical Fiber Amplifiers

The structural and optical properties of Ni-doped transparent glass-ceramics are reviewed. The quantum efficiencies of ceramics were examined to explore suitable crystalline phase for Ni-doping in glass-ceramics. Inverse spinel $LiGa_5O_8$ have the quantum efficiency of almost 100 % at room temperature. Transparent glass ceramics containing $LiGa_5O_8$ was successfully synthesized by heat treatment of $Li_2O-Ga_2-O_3-SiO_2-NiO$ glass. Most of $Ni^{2+}$ ions in glass-ceramic were incorporated into $LiGa_5O_8$ nanocrystals. The near-infrared emission covering from the O-band to L-band (1260-1625 nm) was observed from the Ni-doped $Li_2O-Ga_2O_3-SiO_2$ glass-ceramic though it was not observed from the as-cast glass. The lifetime of the emission was about $580\;{\mu}sec$ even at 300K. The emission quantum efficiency was evaluated as about 10 % that is enough high for practical usage as gain media of optical fiber amplifiers. The figure of merit (the product of the stimulated emission cross section and lifetime) was as high as that of rare-earth-doped glasses. The broad bandwidth, high quantum efficiency and high figure of merit show that transparent glass-ceramics containing $Ni^{2+}:LiGa_5O_8$ nanocrystals are promising candidates as novel ultra-broadband gain media.