Abstracts

The nature, fabrication, and applications ofphotosensitive, bulk, germano-silicate glass

by Alan D Heaney




Institution: University of Rochester
Department:
Year: 2017
Posted: 02/01/2018
Record ID: 2155242
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/1802/32431


Abstract

The photosensitive nature of germano-silicate glassis widely used to create fiber-optic devices. This thesis examinesthe cause of photosensitivity in germano-silicate glass. Theresults of this research elucidate the role that germanium oxygendeficient defects play in the photosensitivity of hydrogen-loaded,germano-silicate glass. We find that defects are not vital to thephotosensitivity of hydrogen-loaded, germano-silicate glass butthey do enhance the effect. Quantitative measurements show thatgermanium oxygen deficient defects promote the formation of OH,GeH, and GeH when hydrogen-loaded, germano-silicate glass isexposed to ultraviolet light.
A sol-gelprocess for fabricating germano-silicate glass in bulk samples hasbeen developed. The sol-gel process produces high-quality,germano-silicate glass which can be tailored to contain defects orbe relatively free of defects. Control over the glass defectconcentration allows us to use sol-gel derived glass forcomparative studies of the photosensitive process and for deviceapplications.
The unique properties ofgermano-silicate glass make it a likely choice for use in opticalapplications. To prove the feasibility of bulk devices,chirped-pulse amplification is demonstrated using gratings writtenin bulk germano-silicate glass.