Sol-gel elaboration and structural investigations of Lu₂O ₃:Eu³⁺ planar waveguides

Europium actived Lu₂O₃ sol-gel transparent and crack free films were deposited by dipping on silica substrates. The film microstructure was studied by waveguide Raman spectroscopy (WRS) with annealing temperatures from 400 up to 1,000 °C and X-ray diffraction. The WRS results and TEM observations were correlated and showed that crystallization of the lutetium oxide phase into cubic phase occurs at 600 °C and is stable up to 1,000 °C, the crystallite size increasing between ±38 nm with annealing temperature ranging from 600 to 1,000 °C. Opto-geometrical parameters were determined by m-lines spectroscopy using four different wavelengths of laser sources in order to confirm the step-index profile of the as-prepared waveguides. The Eu³⁺ doped films heat-treated at 1,000 °C presented a constant thickness for the wavelengths 493, 543, 594 and 632.8 nm and a density of 8.4 g cm^-3. High-resolution X-ray images were obtained.