Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/N17157/01
Title:	OASIS: MATERIALS FOR WIDEBAND OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS IN SILICA-ON-SILICON
Principal Investigator:	Yeatman, Professor EM
Other Investigators:	Syms, Professor R
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	Nortel
Department:	Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Organisation:	Imperial College London
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 August 2000	Ends:	31 January 2003	Value (£):	207,289
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Materials Processing
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Electronics No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The aim of this project is to develop materials and processes for the fabrication of silica-on-silicon planar waveguide amplifiers, a key requirement in DWDM optical telecommunications systems.The project will build on the extensive background, and world-leading position in sol-gel integrated optics, of the applicants. Multicomponent silicate glasses doped with erbium and other rare-earths will be exploited, using the spin coating and rapid thermal annealing sol-gel deposition process. The resulting layers will be integrated into an existing commercial waveguide technology based on plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition, and the combined system will be transferred to a major UK manufacturer (Nortel Networks). Advanced precursors based on mixed metal alkoxides will be developed in collaboration with a UK industrial supplier (Inorgtech).Novel techniques will be exploited to overcome the key difficulty of controlling the erbium molecular environment. The sol-gel approach will allow heavier and more complex co-doping than is currently possible with competing methods, and new precursors will 'cage' the Er ions in, e.g, an alumina solvation shell. Low temperature processing will preserve the sol molecular arrangement in the final glass ('molecular metastability'). Amplifiers with a wide and tailored gain bandwidth will be formed by lamination of glass layers with different spectral properties.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.imperial.ac.uk