A parametric study of Er3+-ions doped Phospho-tellurite glass thin films by pulsed laser deposition

Phospho-tellurite glass thin films have been deposited on silica substrates using an ArF laser (λ = 193 nm, τ = 20 ns) at a laser fluence of 3.2 J/cm2 and for various oxygen pressures, substrate temperatures and target-to-substrate distances. The measured propagation losses of the phospho-tellurite glass thin films are in the range of 0.13–0.75 dB/cm, whilst the refractive indices of the glass thin films were in the range of 1.623–1.649 which is very close to that of the target glass, showing nearly stoichiometric transfer of the material from target to substrate. The results show significant promise for integrated active optical device applications using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) of this erbium doped phospho-tellurite glass material.