Simple and efficient defect-tailored fiber-based UV-VIS broadband white light generation

We propose and demonstrate a facile approach for ultraviolet-visible broadband generation from a sapphire crystal core-borosilicate glass cladding hybrid fiber using a laser-heated pedestal growth technique. Considerable formation of F- and F-2-type color emitters is effectively facilitated by Ti4+ ions and Al3+ vacancies, retaining efficient luminescence and high crystallinity of the sapphire core. These color centers intensify the ultraviolet, blue, and green emissions at 370, 450, and 540 nm, whereas the 650-nm red emission is contributed by Cr3+ in the octahedral sites of the corundum structure. Over 1-mW white light with an optical-to-optical efficiency of up to nearly 5% and 1931 Commission International de l'Eclairage chromaticity coordinate of (0.287, 0.333) is achieved under 325-nm excitation. (C)2013 Optical Society of America