Cubic-Shaped and Rod-Shaped YPO4 Nanocrystal-Doped Optical Fibers: Implications for Next Generation of Fiber Lasers

Engineering silica optical fibers by nanoparticle doping is a promising technology that allows the introduction of new functionalities and extends their applicable fields. However, the knowledge gap about the impact of the extreme fabrication temperatures on the nanoparticle features prevents field progress. Herein, we demonstrate that the particularities of fiber fabrication, such as fast-heating rates and quenching heat treatments, can be leveraged to explore unlikely phenomena at the nanoscale under standard laboratory conditions. Tetragonal cubic-shaped and monoclinic rod-shaped YPO4 nanocrystals are in situ nucleated in a silica-based fiber core glass, slightly modified with Ge and P, which shows for the first time, the possibility of doping optical fibers with this type of nanostructures, in terms of shape, composition, and structure of the nanocrystals. Structural and anisotropic differences allow engineering differently their shape and composition in the fiber core by tailoring the drawing temperature, as revealed by a thorough study consisting of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). This work demonstrates, for the first time, the possibility of doping optical fibers fabricated by modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) with anisotropic nanostructures, as well as the stability of the monoclinic YPO4 phase. These findings open up new avenues to study shape-dependent properties of rare-earth orthophosphate (REPO4) nanostructures in optical fibers which will allow incorporating unprecedented functionalities and will have an impact in several fields of application, such as fiber lasers and optical fiber amplifiers, among others.