Eu 3+ doped (100-x) SiO 2 - x SnO2 (x = 8, 16 and 25 mol %) glass-ceramic waveguides were fabricated by sol-gel technique with dip-coating processing at 800 °C. Higher thermal treatments led to the formation and growth of SnO 2 nanocrystals in the matrix, enhancing the 5 D 0 → 7 F 2 emission of Eu 3+ . Spectroscopic investigations reveal the evolution of a centro-symmetric local environment around the Eu 3+ ion. This property of glass-ceramic waveguides can be exploited for obtaining a higher rare-earth concentration in a smaller volume. The glass-ceramic waveguides exhibited low-losses (0.8 ± 0.2 dB/cm at 632.8 nm) and thus are promising for the development of high-gain integrated optical amplifiers