Crystalline GaSb-core optical fibers with room-temperature photoluminescence

Abstract

Glass-clad, GaSb-core fibers were drawn and subsequently laser annealed. The asdrawn fibers were found to be polycrystalline, possess Sb inclusions, and have oxide contamination concentrations of less than 3 at%. Melting and resolidifying regions in the cores using 10.6 µm CO2 laser radiation yielded single crystalline zones with enhanced photoluminescence (PL), including the first observation of strong room temperature PL from a crystalline core fiber. Annealed fibers show low values of tensile strain and a bandgap close to that of bulk GaSb.