Laser Densification and Doping of Sol-Gel Glasses

An investigation into undoped and doped sol-gel glasses has been carried out for laser, optical and optoelectronic applications. Methods for the doping and characterization of sol-gel glasses have been developed. Lasers based on gel-silica glass doped with organic molecules and operating from the near UV to the near IR have been produced. The basic properties of the composite materials have been measured including dopant distribution, optical quality and photostability. Fundamental parameters and mechanisms for the doped systems of fluorescence lifetime, quantum efficiency and uniformity have been investigated. Controlled densification of the sol-gel glass to give increased refractive index has been demonstrated. This enables the writing of optical waveguides in bulk arid thin films which open up many applications in optoelectronics and the surface densification of sol-gel glass for lightweight optics. New methods of densification of photosensitised sol-gel glass to give high spatial resolution micron size waveguides is described. Applications for the types of systems resulting from this work are reviewed and areas of future development described.