Fabrication of Yb3+/Er3+ codoped Bi2O3–WO3–TeO2 pedestal type waveguide for optical amplifiers

•This is the first report of Yb3+/Er3+ codoped Bi2O3–WO3–TeO2 pedestal type waveguides.•Pedestal waveguides were produced using optical lithography followed by plasma etching.•Internal gain of 5.6 dB at 1530 nm was measured for 1.5 cm waveguide length.•Propagation losses around 2.0 dB/cm and 2.5 dB/cm were obtained at 633 and 1050 nm.

We report, for the first time to our knowledge, experimental results on pedestal waveguides produced with Yb3+/Er3+ codoped Bi2O3–WO3–TeO2 thin films deposited by RF Sputtering for photonic applications. Thin films were deposited using Ar/O2 plasma at 5 mTorr pressure and RF power of 40 W on substrates of silicon wafers. The definition of the pedestal waveguide structure was made using conventional optical lithography followed by plasma etching. Propagation losses around 2.0 dB/cm and 2.5 dB/cm were obtained at 633 and 1050 nm, respectively, for waveguides in the 20–100 μm width range. Single-mode propagation was measured for waveguides width up to 10 μm and 12 μm, at 633 nm and 1050 nm, respectively; for larger waveguides widths multi-mode propagation was obtained. Internal gain of 5.6 dB at 1530 nm, under 980 nm excitation, was measured for 1.5 cm waveguide length (∼3.7 dB/cm). The present results show the possibility of using Yb3+/Er3+ codoped Bi2O3–WO3–TeO2 pedestal waveguide for optical amplifiers.