Analysis of thermally activated processes in bismuth-doped GeO<i/> 2-SiO<i/> 2 glass fibers using the demarcation energy concept

Abstract

We report a study of the thermally activated processes occurring in Bi-doped GeO2-SiO2 fibers using the demarcation energy concept based on a distribution of the activation energies of a first order physico-chemical reaction. Our attention was paid to the processes of formation of the bismuth-related active centers (BACs) and Bi-centers responsible for the unsaturable loss, as well as to the restoration of the BACs in laser-bleached fibers. The activation energies of these processes were determined analyzing the thermal kinetics of these processes. The formation energies of new BACs and Bi-centers responsible for the unsaturable loss were determined to be around 1.1 eV and higher than 2 eV, respectively. The activation energy of thermal restoration process of the bleached BACs is ≈ 0.4 eV. The possible underlying mechanisms of these processes are discussed.