SBIR Phase I: Endohedral Metallofullerenes for Fiber Optic Applications

9861142这个第一阶段的小企业创新研究项目旨在利用最近开发的净化工艺获得铒内源性金属富勒烯，并将这些材料纳入光纤和相关器件中，其性能得到改善，适合近期的商业应用。在近红外区域发射的三价镧系离子激活的玻璃由于其作为高功率激光器和光纤通信光学放大器以及光纤传感应用的材料的潜力而受到当前的关注。目前，掺铒光纤放大器（EDFA）被用于光数据的再生，实现了超长距离的传输。此外，掺铒光纤在陀螺环形激光器件中的应用正在研究中，铒等稀土材料的荧光可以通过荧光衰减时间与温度的关系来测量温度。通过将铒离子封装在金属富勒烯Er2 @ C82中，相对于硅玻璃，铒提供了一个异常均匀的环境。这可以增加激发态寿命和相应的激光效率，并且可以在上转换激光器中发挥重要作用。使用内嵌金属富勒烯改进的掺铒材料将立即在掺铒光纤放大器、光纤激光器、光纤环形激光陀螺仪以及其他通信和传感器产品中有商业应用，包括用于飞机应用的基于荧光的温度传感器。纯铒内源性金属富勒烯材料可作为原料销售，掺铒电动势的纤维预制体可销售给纤维生产厂家。

9861142 This Phase I Small Business Innovation Research project aims to obtain erbium endohedral metallofullerenes using recently developed purification processes and incorporate these materials into optical fiber and related devices with improved performance suitable for near term commercial application. Glasses activated with trivalent lanthanide ions emitting in the near infrared region are of current interest because of their potentiality as materials for high power lasers and optical amplifiers for fiber communications, and for fiber optic sensing applications. Currently, erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA) are used for regeneration of optical data, enabling transmission over extremely long distances. In addition, erbium doped fiber is being investigated for use in ring laser devices for gyroscopic applications, and fluorescence of rare-earth materials such as erbium may be used to measure temperature through the relation between the fluorescent decay time and temperature. By encapsulating erbium ions in the metallofullerene Er2 @ C82, the erbium is provided an exceptionally homogeneous environment relative to silica glass. This can have the effect of increasing the excited state lifetime and corresponding laser efficiency, and can be important in upconversion lasers. Improved erbium doped materials using endohedral metallofullerenes would have immediate commercial application in erbium doped fiber amplifiers, fiber lasers, fiber ring laser gyroscopes, and other communication and sensor products, including fluorescence based temperature sensors for aircraft applications. Purified erbium endohedral metallofullerene material can be sold as raw material, and fiber preforms doped with erbium EMF could be sold to fiber manufacturers.