Preparation of Y3Al5O12:Eu 3+ waveguide films by sol-gel method

Y3Al5O12:Eu 3+ (5 mol% Eu 3+ ) optical thick films were obtained by sol-gel process and dip-coating technique. The synthesis was accomplished using Al(OC4H9)3, YCl3⋅6H2O, isopropanol and Eu(NO3)3·5H2O. The chelating agent was (CH3COCH2COCH3, acacH). After the deposition stage, the YAG:Eu 3+ films were dried and annealed for 1 h at 700, 900 and 1100 °C. Multilayers were deposited to obtain multimode waveguides. X-Ray diffraction analysis confirmed that Y3Al5O12:Eu 3+ films presented characteristic YAG structure. Microscopic observations (HRTEM) of the films heat-treated at 1100 °C revealed that the YAG:Eu 3+