Optical waveguide amplifier in Nd-doped glass written with near-IR femtosecond laser pulses

Summary form only given.We present an active waveguide device directly written using near-IR femtosecond laser pulses. The device is a waveguide amplifier in a Nd-doped silicate glass. The material used was a commercially available Nd-doped silicate glass rod. We measured the absorption coefficient of the glass (maximum value of 4.6 cm/sup -1/ at 896 nm) and from this we estimate the Nd doping level to be around 2/spl times/10/sup 20/ ions/cm/sup 3/. We also recorded the fluorescence spectrum when pumping the glass at 806 nm and the peak in the 1.06 /spl mu/m region was localized around 1062 nm.