Comparative Studies of Er3☎ Ions in LiNbO3 Waveguides Produced by Different Methods

We compare the optical properties of Er^3? in LiNbO₃ waveguides produced by different techniques and find by confocal luminescence microscopy characteristic differences in the excitation and emission transitions. Besides a small redistribution among the regular defect sites, essentially no direct Er^3?—Ti^4? interaction can be observed in Ti^4? diffused waveguides. However a significant shift in transition energies is found, which increases with Ti^4?concentration. Based on earlier results we associate this shift with a decrease in the intrinsic electric field. In addition to a similar shift, we find in Zn^2? diffused waveguides new defect types which suggest a change in direct environment. Finally, in annealed proton exchange waveguides we find no interaction effects at all.     

Fabrication and characterization of double-diffused waveguides

An experimental study of two-step Ag⁺/Na⁺ ion exchange in BK-7 glass substrates in molten solutions consisting of AgNO₃/NaNO₃ mixtures is presented. This paper describes a method for evaluating the measured mode index spectra and the index profile of double-diffused semiburied waveguides. They are first diffused at 320°C in 2% melt and are then converted to semiburied waveguides by a second diffusion step consisting of a short-time reimmersion in a 0.25% melt.     

Single-mode optical waveguides fabricated in LiNbO3 by multienergy C implantations

Single-mode waveguides in LiNbO₃ are demonstrated by use of prism coupling method. The waveguides are fabricated by three different energies and single energy C²⁺ implantations at the equal total doses, respectively. Dark modes and propagation loss are measured by use of prism coupling and moving fiber methods, respectively. Damages produced by implantation are measured by RBS/channeling technique. The waveguide structures are investigated in two different implantation cases. The results of analysis indicate that the heavy ion-implanted waveguides are still defined by synergetic characteristics from both the raised-index region and the low-index barrier. The broadened barrier from multienergy implantation is demonstrated to play a significant role in reducing propagation loss.     

Optimal designing of grating couplers for diffused waveguides in electro-optical crystals

Grating couplers for electro-optical diffused waveguides (such as Ti:LiNbO₃, Ti:LiTaO₃, etc.) are examined theoretically. A comparison of the improvements resulting from groove deepening, grating metallization, covering and multicovering of waveguide corrugation is made. Expressions for the calculation of the optimum parameters for multicovering are given and the method for optimization of the parameters is presented. It is shown that high-efficiency couplers for diffused electro-optical waveguides can be made using corrugations no longer than 1 mm and no deeper than 10 nm. A numerical illustration is presented to demonstrate the usefulness of the method for the improvement of other grating devices (distributed Bragg reflector, thin-film grating coupler).     

A simple variational analysis of diffused channel waveguides

The variational analysis of Ti:LiNbO₃ strip waveguides is resolved into two related one-dimension problems, which provides a new iterative approach for the calculation of the mode parameters and the propagation constant. The analytical expressions of the local effective index profiles can be obtained from the variational analysis. The parameters of four trial solutions for the fundamental mode in a diffused-channel waveguide have been determined by using the present method. Comparison with results using the effective method shows that these four approximate expressions are accurate enough. It is also shown that this method converges very quickly and is suitable for both diffused channel waveguides and optical waveguides with rectangular cross-section.     

Leaky modes of channel waveguides with uniaxial anisotropy

An exact numerical method for analyzing the propagation properties of leaky modes of inhomogeneous channel optical waveguides with a complex uniaxial diagonal permittivity tensor is developed. The method is based on solving the system of integro-differential equations formulated with respect to transversal components of the magnetic field and the longitudinal component of the electric field. Some results of investigation of leaky modes of diffused channel waveguides in LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ crystals are given.     

Surface acoustic wave distribution and acousto-optic interaction in proton exchanged LiNbO3 waveguides

The efficiency of acoustooptic (AO) interaction in YZ-cut proton exchanged (PE) LiNbO₃ waveguides is theoretically analysed by determining the overlap between the optical and acoustic field distributions. The present analysis takes into account the perturbed SAW field distribution due to the presence of the PE layer on the LiNbO₃ substrate determined by the rigorous layered medium approach. The overlap is found to be significant upto very high acoustic frequencies of the order of 5 GHz, whereas in the earlier analysis by vonHelmolt and Schaffer [6] for diffused waveguides, it was shown that the overlap integral rolls down to nearly zero at this high frequency range.     

21.0%‐efficient co‐diffused screen printed n‐type silicon solar cell with rear‐side boron emitter

Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is applied to deposit boron silicate glasses (BSG) acting as boron diffusion source during the fabrication of n‐type silicon solar cells. We characterize the resulting boron‐diffused emitter after boron drive‐in from PECVD BSG by measuring the sheet resistances R_sheet,B and saturation current densities J_0,B. For process optimization, we vary the PECVD deposition parameters such as the gas flows of the precursor gases silane and diborane and the PECVD BSG layer thickness. We find an optimum gas flow ratio of SiH₄/B₂H₆= 8% and layer thickness of 40 nm. After boron drive in from these PECVD BSG diffusion sources, a low J_0,B values of 21 fA/cm² is reached for R_sheet,B = 70 Ω/□. The optimized PECVD BSG layers together with a co‐diffusion process are implemented into the fabrication process of passivated emitter and rear totally diffused (PERT) back junction (BJ) cells on n‐type silicon. An independently confirmed energy conversion efficiency of 21.0% is achieved on 15.6 × 15.6 cm² cell area with a simplified process flow. This is the highest efficiency reported for a co‐diffused n‐type PERT BJ cell using PECVD BSG as diffusion source. A loss analysis shows a small contribution of 0.13 mW/cm² of the boron diffusion to the recombination loss proving the high quality of this diffusion source. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Low cost fabrication of SiO2 optical waveguides by laser direct writing on Ti-doped Sol-Gel films

A commercial direct laser writing (DLW) system operating at 1070 nm was used to fabricate SiO₂ optical waveguides on silicon wafers. A Ti-doped SiO₂ Sol-Gel film was deposited on the SiO₂/Si substrate by the dip-coating technique, based on which SiO₂ optical waveguides were patterned by DLW using a Ytterbium fiber laser and followed by chemical etching. The effects of laser parameters and the preheated temperature of Sol-Gel films on the dimensions of optical waveguides were studied systematically. The differences of etching rate between laser irradiated and non-irradiated areas in Sol-Gel films preheated at various temperatures are characterized by measuring the thickness of the films. Results demonstrate that the available laser power density range for laser densification and the width of the patterned optical waveguides are influenced strongly by the preheated temperature of the Sol-Gel films. The width of the optimized optical waveguide in this work is 25 μm. The minimum propagation loss of the fabricated optical waveguides is 1.7 dB cm⁻¹ at the wavelength of 1550 nm.     

Evidence of different β-phases in highly protonated z-cut H:LiNbO3 waveguides by raman scattering

3 waveguides is demonstrated by the Raman scattering technique. Multimode waveguides have been produced by using pyrophosphoric, benzoic, and diluted benzoic acids as a proton source. The proton-exchanged (PE) layers are subjected to annealing (APE samples) with different rates of cooling: slow (s) and quick (q). The effect of Li-H replacing is considered in the frequency range below 800 cm^-1 and about 3500 cm^-1 (OH modes). The analysis of the spectral data leads to some important conclusions about the changes in the H:LiNbO₃ lattice. We demonstrate that applying (s) ? (q) procedures on H_xLi_1-xNbO₃ waveguides with x>0.56 leads to phase transitions between different states. The high-temperature phase modifications (metastable at room temperature) are characterized by strongly broadened q-Raman bands which imply a high degree of disorder. Although the Raman measurements support the presence of different phases in H:LiNbO₃ waveguides, some conclusions, different from those reported elsewhere, have been made. Received: 16 November 1998 / Accepted: 14 December 1998 / Published online: 24 February 1999     

Er-Yb co-doped glass waveguide amplifiers using ion exchange and field-assisted annealing

Er³⁺-Yb³⁺ co-doped waveguide amplifiers fabricated using thermal two-step ion-exchange are demonstrated. K⁺-Na⁺ ion-exchange process was first carried out in pure KNO₃ molten bath, and then field-assisted annealing (FAA) was used to make the buried waveguides. The effective buried depth is estimated to be ∼3.4 μm for the buried FAA waveguides. With the use of cut-back method, the fiber-to-guide coupling loss of ∼4.38 dB, the waveguide loss of ∼2.27 dB/cm, and Er³⁺ absorption loss ∼5.7 dB were measured for a ∼1.24-cm-long waveguide. Peak relative gain of ∼7.0 dB is obtained for a ∼1.24-cm-long waveguide. The potential for the fabrication of compact optical amplifiers operating in the range of 1520-1580 nm is also demonstrated.     

Optical channel waveguides with trapezoidal-shaped cross sections in KTiOPO4 crystal fabricated by ion implantation

Optical channel waveguides were fabricated in KTiOPO₄ crystal by He⁺-ion implantation using photoresist masks with wedged-shaped cross sections. Semi-closed barrier walls with reduced refractive indices inside the crystal constructed the enclosed regions to be channel waveguides with trapezoidal-shaped cross sections. The m-line as well as end-fire coupling arrangements were performed to characterize the waveguides with light at wavelength of 632.8 nm. The propagation loss of the channel waveguides was determined to be as low as ∼2 dB/cm after simple post-irradiation thermal annealing treatment in air.     

Guided-wave second harmonics in Nd:YCOB optical waveguides for integrated green lasers

We report on guided-wave second-harmonic generations in nonlinear Nd:YCa₄O(BO₃)₃ (Nd:YCOB) optical waveguides that are produced by the low-fluence swift Ar⁸⁺ ion irradiation. The guided-wave second harmonics are realized through the frequency doubling and the self-frequency-doubling of the waveguides under the optical pumps at wavelengths of 1064 and 810 nm, respectively. By virtue of the self-frequency-conversion configuration, the Nd:YCOB waveguides are promising candidates as novel, compact, miniature green laser sources.     

Lattice micro-modifications induced by Zn diffusion in Nd:LiNbO<Subscript>3</Subscript> channel waveguides probed by Nd<Superscript>3+</Superscript> confocal micro-luminescence

The luminescence properties of Neodymium ions in Zn diffused LiNbO₃ channel waveguides have been studied with sub-micrometric spatial resolution. The analysis of the luminescence spectra suggests the existence of a local expansion and disordering associated to the presence of Zn in the LiNbO₃ lattice after the diffusion process. By taking this cause–effect relation into account, it has been possible to determine both the in-depth and lateral Zn diffusion lengths, as well to elucidate the spatial location of the channel waveguide. PACS 42.65.Wi; 87.64.Tt; 42.55.Rz     

Mode theory of three-layer cylindrical waveguides and its application to aurum(Au)/polystyrene(PS)-coated terahertz hollow waveguides

In this paper, we present a generic mode theory for the three-layer cylindrical waveguides consisting of three arbitrary material mediums. Based on derived eigenvalue equations of the TE, TM, and hybrid modes, the mode conditions of metal/dielectric-coated terahertz hollow waveguides are extracted. In addition, we quantitatively describe both the effective refractive indexes and the loss characteristics of the aurum/polystyrene-coated terahertz hollow waveguides operating at the TE₀₁, TM₀₁, and HE₁₁ modes. It is indicated that the loss coefficient of the TE₀₁ mode can be much lower than that of the TM₀₁, and HE₁₁ modes, and, especially, can tend to that of the terahertz wave in air. So the TE₀₁ mode is very significant for the hollow waveguides in term of low loss propagating of the terahertz wave. We expect these results to enable a variety of new long-distance THz applications in sensing, detecting and communicating.     

WKB analysis of guided and semileaky modes in graded-index anisotropic optical waveguides

WKB analysis of graded-index anisotropic optical waveguides is briefly presented. The angular dependencies of the propagation characteristics of both guided and semileaky modes are calculated numerically for the out-diffused and in-diffused LiNbO₃ waveguides with parabolic index profile. The results for the out-diffused waveguide are compared with those obtained from the rigorous theory and the applicability of the WKG method is discussed for semileaky mode loss calculations. The angular dependence of the propagation constants of a TiO₂-diffused LiNbO₃ waveguide is demonstrated experimentally, too.     

Photon recycling in Fabry–Perot micro-cavities based on Si3N4 waveguides

We present a numerical analysis and preliminary experimental results on one-dimensional Fabry–Perot micro-cavities in Si₃N₄waveguides. The Fabry–Perot micro-cavities are formed by two distributed Bragg reflectors separated by a straight portion of a waveguide. The Bragg reflectors are composed of a few air slits produced within the Si₃N₄ waveguides. In order to increase the quality factor of the micro-cavities, we have minimized, with a multiparametric optimization tool, the insertion loss of the reflectors by varying the length of their first pairs (those facing the cavity). To explain the simulation results, the coupling of the fundamental waveguide mode with radiative modes in the Fabry–Perot micro-cavities is needed. This effect is described as a recycling of radiative modes in the waveguide. To support the modelling, preliminary experimental results of micro-cavities in Si₃N₄ waveguides realized with the focused ion beam technique are reported.     

Influence of the group-velocity on the pulse propagation in 1D silicon photonic crystal waveguides

We present a detailed analysis of the influence of the group velocity (GV) on the dynamics of optical pulses upon their propagation in one-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides (PhCW). The theoretical model used in our analysis incorporates the linear optical properties of the PhCW (GV dispersion and optical losses), free-carrier (FC) effects (FC dispersion and FC-induced optical losses) and nonlinear optical effects (Kerr nonlinearity and two-photon absorption). Our analysis shows that, unlike the case of uniform waveguides, the GV of the pulse, dispersion coefficients, and the waveguide nonlinear coefficient are periodic functions with respect to the propagation distance. We also demonstrate that linear and nonlinear effects depend on the group velocity, v _g , as v_g^-1v_{g}^{-1} and v_g^-2v_{g}^{-2}, respectively.     

Photoconductivity and photovoltaic behaviour of LiNbO3 and LiNbO3 waveguides at high optical intensities

The photoconductivity and photovoltaic currents of pure LiNbO₃ and proton exchanged waveguides in LiNbO₃ have been measured as a function of the optical intensity up to about several kW/cm² by the use of surface electrodes. For pure LiNbO₃ the observed dependences are a simple extrapolation of the well known low intensity behaviour. The photoconductivity of proton exchanged waveguides is considerably increased compared with pure LiNbO₃ and the curves are strongly nonlinear in the high intensity region. These results can explain, at least qualitatively, the previously observed characteristic time and intensity dependence of light-induced refractive index changes in this type of waveguides. Both the time and temperature behaviour of the dark conductivity of all proton exchanged waveguides give strong evidence of ionic charge transport in the proton exchanged region.     

Structural and optical properties of waveguides in YbVO4 crystals formed by 3.0 MeV Cu-ions implantation

We report on the structural and optical characterization of waveguides formed in YbVO₄ crystals by Cu²⁺-ion implantation with an energy of 3.0 MeV and doses of 3.0×10¹⁴-1.0×10¹⁵ ions/cm². The damage properties are determined by RBS/Channeling measurements with the help of simulation code RUMP. The m-line method is used to characterize the dark-mode spectroscopy in the planar waveguides. According to the reconstructed refractive index profile of the waveguide cross section, a numerical simulation is carried out to investigate the confinement of the light in the waveguides based on the beam propagation method.