Optical device doped with erbium

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This invention embodies an optical device with a Fabry-Perot cavity formed by two reflective mirrors (12, 14) and an active layer (13) which is doped with a rare earth element selected from lanthanide series elements with number 57 through 71. The thickness of the active layer is a whole number multiple of lambda /2 wherein lambda is the operating, or emissive, wavelength of the device, said whole number being one of the numbers ranging from 1 to 5, the fundamental mode of the cavity being in resonance with the emission wavelength of said selected rare earth element. Cavity-quality factors exceeding Q = 300 and finesses of 73 are achieved with structures consisting of two Si/SiO2 distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors and an Er-implanted ( lambda /2) SiO2 active region. The bottom DBR mirror (12) consists of four pairs and the upper DBR mirror (14) consists of two-and-a half pairs of quarterwave ( lambda /4) layers of Si and SiO2. Photoluminescence at room temperature reveals a drastic enhancement of the luminescence intensity of the cavity emitted along the optical axis of the cavity versus the luminescence without the top mirror. The luminescence intensity of the cavity is typically 1-2 orders of magnitudes higher as compared to structures without a cavity. Furthermore, since the emission wavelength and the intensity decrease for off-normal emission angles, the change in emission wavelength can be quantitatively described by assuming that the on-axis component of the optical wave is resonant with the cavity.