The nature, fabrication, and applications ofphotosensitive, bulk, germano-silicate glass
Institution: | University of Rochester |
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Department: | |
Year: | 2017 |
Posted: | 02/01/2018 |
Record ID: | 2155242 |
Full text PDF: | http://hdl.handle.net/1802/32431 |
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.