Polymer-based materials for amplification in the telecommunication window: Influence of erbium complex concentration on relevant parameters for the elaboration of waveguide amplifiers around 1550 nm

Erbium-doped polymer-based optical waveguides offer an attractive alternative for inorganic amplifiers in the eye-safe telecommunication window at 1550 nm. We are succeeded in doping a standard polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) matrix with an octupolar erbium complex designed to display quadratic nonlinear optical response and IR luminescence in the same time. We have investigated the influence of erbium complex concentration on various parameters such as spun coated thickness, reactive ionic etching rate, refractive index and near infrared luminescence. The optimal erbium concentration for emission at 1550 nm reaches 1 wt.%. These carefully optimized processing and optical parameters are of great relevance for a further design and elaboration of polymer-based single mode waveguide amplifiers.