Investigation of the Characteristics of Thulium Doped Alumina Nanoparticles for Applications in Silica-Based Fibers

Abstract

It is reported that during the fabrication of doping RE ions into the silica preform, the distribution of particles is inhomogeneous and becomes uneven throughout the fiber which lead to unwanted spectroscopic characteristics. It is assumed that by using thulium doped with alumina, the problem with the inhomogeneity of the particles inside the fiber can be solved. With the incorporation of alumina particles with thulium ions, the clustering effect and the ion-ion interactions between the ions can be prevented. In this research, thulium doped alumina nanoparticles will be synthesized by using sol-gel method to achieve particles within the nanoscale range of less than 100 nm in size, evenly distributed nanoparticles and high uniformity. The characterization activities will be perform by using optical microscope, FESEM, EDS and particle analyzer to identify the properties of the resulting solutions. By doping thulium with alumina nanoparticles, it is assumed that the amplification in the transmission systems can be increased and the conversion of passive optical fibers to active fibers can be achieved.