Characterization of novel active optical waveguides

Praseodymium doped chalcogenide glasses have been deposited via Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) technique onto a substrate of soda-lime glass. The obtained waveguiding films seem to be very promising for fabrication of optical amplifiers, laser, and all-optical devices. The composition of the deposited glass differs from that of target before ablation, therefore this phenomenon has been taken into account for a suitable choice of target stoichiometry. The deposited chalcogenide films have been analyzed chemically and a preliminary optical characterization has been performed.