9612267 Houde-Walter The proposed research is a multidisciplinary effort involving University of Rochester and Stanford University, along with industrial collaborators from Eastman Kodak and Corning, to study the environments of rare-earth dopants and defects in optical glasses. The PIs propose to carry out spectroscopic analyses of impurities and defects in optical glasses to determine the nature of rare-earth environments. These analyses include optically detected magnetic resonance, nuclear magnetic resonance , x-ray absorption fine structure, electron spin resonance, and Raman spectroscopy. An understanding of the properties of these defects is critical to the production of glasses that exhibit higher gain and photo-induced index changes per induced absorption. These glasses, in turn, will make possible the development of new types of devices for optical telecommunications. %%% The proposed research is a multidisciplinary effort involving University of Rochester and Stanford University, along with industrial collaborators from Eastman Kodak and Corning, to study the environments of rare-earth dopants and defects in optical glasses. The PIs propose to carry out spectroscopic analyses of impurities and defects in optical glasses to determine the nature of rare-earth environments. Optically detected magnetic resonance, nuclear magnetic resonance , x-ray absorption fine structure, electron spin resonance, and Raman spectroscopy will be used to study defects in rare-earth doped glasses. An understanding of these defects will enable materials researchers to produce glass with improved optoelectronic properties, which in turn will make possible the development of new types of devices for optical telecommunications. ***
