Clustering of Yb in silica-based glasses synthesized by SPCVD

Light absorption and scattering are studied in silica-based slab lightguides with different contents of aluminum, ytterbium and phosphorous in the silica core. The slab lightguides used in the experiments were fabricated from the structures of doped silica deposited on the inner surface of a substrate silica tube via surface-plasma chemical vapor deposition (SPCVD). The synthesized glasses contained 0.004-0.4 at. % of Yb, as well as various contents of Al and P ranging from 0 to 1 at. %. Loss spectra of the slab lightguides are measured in the 300-1050 nm wavelength band, with the influence of the profusion of deposited glass on the loss spectra investigated by means of substrate tube external processing at a temperature of ∼1600 °C in the flame of a hydrogen-oxygen burner. We found that a combination of the temperature of the inner surface of the substrate tube during the deposition process and the subsequent profusion of the deposited structure essentially influence the distribution uniformity of ytterbium ions in the glass volume. If aluminum and phosphorous are present in the glass, such profusion can influence the formation of ytterbium clusters in opposite ways.