Investigation of neodymium silicate glass diffused waveguides

Planar waveguides were fabricated from GLS2 and GLS3 laser glasses and KGSS026 glasses with high concentrations of neodymium ions by diffusion of K⁺ and Ag⁺ ions. The optical stability of the K⁺ waveguides was superior to that of the Ag⁺ waveguides. Amplification of laser radiation was achieved in flashlamp-pumped GLS3 glass K⁺ waveguides and the gain was ~0.08 cm^–1 .