Spectroscopic investigations of dispersion-shifted fiber with thin active Bi-doped ring and high nonlinear refractive index

A germanium-doped silica-core fiber with an active region in the form of a thin ring of silica doped with bismuth ions was fabricated. Bismuth doping in the ring surrounding the core allows to stabilize bismuth in silica glass, and it does not impose any restrictions on the composition of the core. The bismuth concentration in the ring is less than 0.2 wt.%. The GeO2 concentration in the core is more than 15 mol.%. A high germanium concentration in the core allows to shift the zero dispersion wavelength to 1860 nm and to obtain a high nonlinear refractive index (n2 more than 3,2*10-20 m2/W). Spectroscopic investigations were carried out in the visible and near infrared (800-1700 nm) spectral range. Despite the small concentration of bismuth, we observed the absorption and luminescence characteristic bands, confirming the presence of bismuth active centers in silica glass. Upon pumping at 1350 nm the on/off gain spectrum was measured on a 20-m fiber. The gain was observed throughout investigated range of 1430-1530 nm. The maximal gain of ~9.5 dB was obtained near 1430 nm. The results of the spectroscopic investigations of the fiber with a thin active Bi-doped ring showed prospects of the creation and application of such fiber type for laser and nonlinear optics

Dynamics of Fracture in Silica and Soda-Silicate Glasses: From Bulk Materials to Nanowires

Classical molecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate the fracture mechanism, intrinsic strength, strain at failure and elastic modulus of silica and soda-silicate bulk glasses and nanowires. The latter have been generated by using a new casting approach described in this paper for the first time. The results show that large systems have to be used to reproduce the brittle fracture mechanism of silicate glasses; the appropriate dimensions of the simulation boxes depend on the glass composition. Whereas for silica glass an ideal brittle fracture is observed with models containing 30k atoms, for soda-silicate glasses models with more than 60k atoms should be used. Glasses containing nanovoids and atomic defects (such as under- and overcoordinated silicon and oxygen atoms) are less brittle than flaw-free bulk glasses. The main finding, shown here for the first time, is that the presence of atomic defects and/or modifier cations allows the material to rearrange its structure and absorb the stresses caused by mechanical deformation, the former by transforming from high energy point defects to more stable configurations and the latter by saturating NBOs formed during the gradual breaking of the Si\u2013O bonds that starts soon after the strain at failure is reached. In general, silica nanowires are characterized by lower mechanical properties with respect to bulk models because of the slightly higher amount of atomic defects (3-fold Si, nonbridging oxygens, and small rings) on their surfaces compared to that found in bulk glasses. These defects are not present in soda-silicate nanowires whose surfaces are rich in sodium ions that compensate the negative charge of nonbridging oxygens