Optical gain at 1.5 /spl mu/m in nanocrystal Si-sensitized Er-doped silica waveguide using top-pumping 470 nm LEDs

This paper demonstrates optical gain at 1.5 /spl mu/m in Si-nanocrystal-sensitized, Er-doped silica waveguide using a commercial, low-cost 470 nm LED in top-pumping configuration. Experimental evidence of full inversion with maximum possible gain of 3 dB/cm is presented. Possible application of Si-nanocrystal-sensitized, Er-doped silica for silicon-based microphotonics is also presented.