Tailoring nonlinear nanostructured materials for integrated sources based on stimulated Raman scattering

In this paper, the possibility to obtain new materials with both large Raman gain coefficients and spectral bandwidth is investigated. In particular, silica-niobia based glasses have been characterized by Raman spectroscopy. Our silica-based glass system (K₂O-Nb₂O₅-SiO₂ (KNS)) are obtained by a thermal treatment resulting in a nanocomposite material of easy and cheap production. Our glass composition have demonstrated both a strong Raman gain and a large bandwidth. These results can be related to nanostructured material domains.