Effect of High-Temperature Treatment on Optical Properties of Silica Films Doped with Al2O3, P2O5 and Rare-Earth Elements

The paper reports effects of high-temperature treatment of silica layers doped with Al₂O₃, P₂O₅, Yb and Er ions, which are coated inside silica substrate tubes and transformed through viscous flow into the core of a preform, on properties of these cores. The gel layers are applied inside the silica substrate tubes from sols based on tetraethoxysilane and corresponding chlorides in isopropanol by controlled lowering the column of the sol. The layers are thermally treated at 500°C and subject to high-temperature treatment from 1000 to 1300°C. The tube with the layers is collapsed into a preform from which fibers are drawn at about 1950°C. The results of concentration measurements show that during the high-temperature treatment the content of silica in the layer increases at least five times in comparison with that of the sol composition. This effect depends on the sol composition and the number of the coated gel layers. Measurements show that in the prepared fibers there is some remaining unsaturated absorption of erbium ions at 1535 nm, which is related to quenching of the erbium ions.