{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132741"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132741","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Quenching and lasing effects in erbium-doped fibers made with alkaline earth fluoride nanoparticles","abstract":"Erbium as a dopant in optical fiber is highly valued for its use in lasing and amplification. However, the scalability of erbium-doped fibers (EDFs) has been limited by the natural likelihood of the rare earth ion to cluster in silicate glasses. When the ions cluster, they continuously trade energy with each other, inhibiting the ability for each ion to radiatively deexcite back to the ground state. This process also results in excess heat, which further limits the potential for EDFs to scale to high power without effective cooling. This work investigates a novel approach towards reducing these effects in EDFs. Through the incorporation of both nanoparticle structures and alkaline earth co-dopants, this new fiber takes a multi-directional approach to prevent ions trading energy. Thirteen versions of this aluminosilicate optical fiber were drawn and characterized. Through a combination of both the nanoparticles and alumina contained in the precursor, average erbia densities as high as 2 wt.% are realized. These highly-concentrated EDFs have trackable baria retention rates depending on the amount of alumina used when doping. Theories about controlling mechanisms behind dopant retention rates are discussed. Cross-sections and gain curves for different operation bands related to varying erbium concentration are presented. From these fiber characteristics, modeling of ion bonds and quenching rates are attempted. To demonstrate a reduction in quenching effects despite increased erbium concentration, both quantum and slope efficiencies were measured. Heavily doped fibers with quantum efficiencies up to 0.76 are demonstrated. Slope efficiencies as high as 48% for 976 nm pumping are presented. These efficiencies are compared to commercially available EDFs to demonstrate a proof of concept to reduce erbium ion quenching for modernizing optical fiber lasers. Theories of the contributions from both the solubilizing co-dopants and nanoparticle precursor are discussed. While the understanding of how the nanoparticle structure affects the resultant fiber is unclear, comparing to a control EDF that was made without nanoparticles provides theories towards ion isolation effects.","abstract_html":"Erbium as a dopant in optical fiber is highly valued for its use in lasing and amplification. However, the scalability of erbium-doped fibers (EDFs) has been limited by the natural likelihood of the rare earth ion to cluster in silicate glasses. When the ions cluster, they continuously trade energy with each other, inhibiting the ability for each ion to radiatively deexcite back to the ground state. This process also results in excess heat, which further limits the potential for EDFs to scale to high power without effective cooling. This work investigates a novel approach towards reducing these effects in EDFs. Through the incorporation of both nanoparticle structures and alkaline earth co-dopants, this new fiber takes a multi-directional approach to prevent ions trading energy. Thirteen versions of this aluminosilicate optical fiber were drawn and characterized. Through a combination of both the nanoparticles and alumina contained in the precursor, average erbia densities as high as 2 wt.% are realized. These highly-concentrated EDFs have trackable baria retention rates depending on the amount of alumina used when doping. Theories about controlling mechanisms behind dopant retention rates are discussed. Cross-sections and gain curves for different operation bands related to varying erbium concentration are presented. From these fiber characteristics, modeling of ion bonds and quenching rates are attempted. To demonstrate a reduction in quenching effects despite increased erbium concentration, both quantum and slope efficiencies were measured. Heavily doped fibers with quantum efficiencies up to 0.76 are demonstrated. Slope efficiencies as high as 48% for 976 nm pumping are presented. These efficiencies are compared to commercially available EDFs to demonstrate a proof of concept to reduce erbium ion quenching for modernizing optical fiber lasers. Theories of the contributions from both the solubilizing co-dopants and nanoparticle precursor are discussed. While the understanding of how the nanoparticle structure affects the resultant fiber is unclear, comparing to a control EDF that was made without nanoparticles provides theories towards ion isolation effects.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Campbell, Jennifer Jane"],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Physics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dragic, Peter","Goldschmidt, Elizabeth","Gollin, George","Ballato, John"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-12","date_published":"2025-12","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z","subjects":["fiber optics","erbium-doped fiber","fiber lasers"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Jennifer Campbell"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132741","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dragic, Peter","Goldschmidt, Elizabeth","Gollin, George","Ballato, John"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Campbell, Jennifer Jane"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-12","2025-10-27"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Physics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["fiber optics","erbium-doped fiber","fiber lasers"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Jennifer Campbell"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132741"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Erbium as a dopant in optical fiber is highly valued for its use in lasing and amplification. However, the scalability of erbium-doped fibers (EDFs) has been limited by the natural likelihood of the rare earth ion to cluster in silicate glasses. When the ions cluster, they continuously trade energy with each other, inhibiting the ability for each ion to radiatively deexcite back to the ground state. This process also results in excess heat, which further limits the potential for EDFs to scale to high power without effective cooling. This work investigates a novel approach towards reducing these effects in EDFs. Through the incorporation of both nanoparticle structures and alkaline earth co-dopants, this new fiber takes a multi-directional approach to prevent ions trading energy. Thirteen versions of this aluminosilicate optical fiber were drawn and characterized. Through a combination of both the nanoparticles and alumina contained in the precursor, average erbia densities as high as 2 wt.% are realized. These highly-concentrated EDFs have trackable baria retention rates depending on the amount of alumina used when doping. Theories about controlling mechanisms behind dopant retention rates are discussed. Cross-sections and gain curves for different operation bands related to varying erbium concentration are presented. From these fiber characteristics, modeling of ion bonds and quenching rates are attempted. To demonstrate a reduction in quenching effects despite increased erbium concentration, both quantum and slope efficiencies were measured. Heavily doped fibers with quantum efficiencies up to 0.76 are demonstrated. Slope efficiencies as high as 48% for 976 nm pumping are presented. These efficiencies are compared to commercially available EDFs to demonstrate a proof of concept to reduce erbium ion quenching for modernizing optical fiber lasers. Theories of the contributions from both the solubilizing co-dopants and nanoparticle precursor are discussed. While the understanding of how the nanoparticle structure affects the resultant fiber is unclear, comparing to a control EDF that was made without nanoparticles provides theories towards ion isolation effects.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2027-12-01","The student, Jennifer Campbell, accepted the attached license on 2025-09-22 at 17:49.","The student, Jennifer Campbell, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-09-22 at 18:07.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-10-27 at 13:44.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22808 on 2026-02-19 at 20:08:19"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Quenching and lasing effects in erbium-doped fibers made with alkaline earth fluoride nanoparticles"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dragic, Peter","Goldschmidt, Elizabeth","Gollin, George","Ballato, John"],"dc:creator":["Campbell, Jennifer Jane"],"dc:date":["2025-12","2025-10-27"],"dc:description":["Erbium as a dopant in optical fiber is highly valued for its use in lasing and amplification. However, the scalability of erbium-doped fibers (EDFs) has been limited by the natural likelihood of the rare earth ion to cluster in silicate glasses. When the ions cluster, they continuously trade energy with each other, inhibiting the ability for each ion to radiatively deexcite back to the ground state. This process also results in excess heat, which further limits the potential for EDFs to scale to high power without effective cooling. This work investigates a novel approach towards reducing these effects in EDFs. Through the incorporation of both nanoparticle structures and alkaline earth co-dopants, this new fiber takes a multi-directional approach to prevent ions trading energy. Thirteen versions of this aluminosilicate optical fiber were drawn and characterized. Through a combination of both the nanoparticles and alumina contained in the precursor, average erbia densities as high as 2 wt.% are realized. These highly-concentrated EDFs have trackable baria retention rates depending on the amount of alumina used when doping. Theories about controlling mechanisms behind dopant retention rates are discussed. Cross-sections and gain curves for different operation bands related to varying erbium concentration are presented. From these fiber characteristics, modeling of ion bonds and quenching rates are attempted. To demonstrate a reduction in quenching effects despite increased erbium concentration, both quantum and slope efficiencies were measured. Heavily doped fibers with quantum efficiencies up to 0.76 are demonstrated. Slope efficiencies as high as 48% for 976 nm pumping are presented. These efficiencies are compared to commercially available EDFs to demonstrate a proof of concept to reduce erbium ion quenching for modernizing optical fiber lasers. Theories of the contributions from both the solubilizing co-dopants and nanoparticle precursor are discussed. While the understanding of how the nanoparticle structure affects the resultant fiber is unclear, comparing to a control EDF that was made without nanoparticles provides theories towards ion isolation effects.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2027-12-01","The student, Jennifer Campbell, accepted the attached license on 2025-09-22 at 17:49.","The student, Jennifer Campbell, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-09-22 at 18:07.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-10-27 at 13:44.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22808 on 2026-02-19 at 20:08:19"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132741"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Jennifer Campbell"],"dc:subject":["fiber optics","erbium-doped fiber","fiber lasers"],"dc:title":["Quenching and lasing effects in erbium-doped fibers made with alkaline earth fluoride nanoparticles"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Physics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z"}