Plastic optical fibres dopants to obtain gain enlargement and ultrafast optical switching
Mendonça, A.
;
Charas, A.
; Clark, J. C.
; Bazzana, L. B.
; Nocivelli, A. N.
; Lanzani, G. L.
;
Morgado, J.
Plastic optical fibres dopants to obtain gain enlargement and ultrafast optical switching, Proc International Conf. on Applications of Optics and Photonics - AOP, Braga, Portugal, Vol. 1, pp. 1 - 7, May, 2011.
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Abstract
Conjugated luminescent polymers have been shown to exhibit stimulated emission upon optical pumping. Dilution in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) leads to an enlargement, towards longer wavelengths, of the gain region. In addition, ultra-fast optical switching is observed when a second pulse is applied during excited state lifetime. These two properties are of high importance for optical communications and can bring into the plastic optical fibers (POFs) the equivalent of erbium amplification in silica fibers. In this communication we report on the gain and switching properties of PMMA films and POFs doped with various conjugated oligomers and polymers, prepared by blending or copolymerization.
