Determination of the attenuation of planar waveguides by means of detecting scattered light

Due to the variety of waveguides in planar structures, the measurements of attenuation are characterized by a considerable variety of applied methods, developed for given type of waveguides. The method of measuring scattered light is, therefore, of much importance in the case of waveguides with a rather high attenuation, because it is an exceptionally fast and simple method, which is doubtlessly the effect of the development of numerical detection systems. The paper presents the process of measurements basing on scattered light, combined with an analysis of its application, as well exemplary results concerning the planar structures of waveguides achieved by means of ion exchange on soda-lime glass.     

Soliton-induced waveguides in an organic photorefractive glass

We demonstrate optical waveguiding of a probe beam at 980 nm by a soliton beam at 780 nm in an organic photorefractive monolithic glass. Both planar and circular waveguides induced by one- and two-dimensional spatial solitons formed as a result of orientationally enhanced photorefractive nonlinearity are produced in the organic glass. Possibilities for increasing the speed of waveguide formation are discussed.     

Chalcogenide glasses as a medium for controlling parameters of ultrashort IR pulses: II

The propagation of ultrashort optical pulses in planar chalcogenide glass waveguides with uniform or periodic claddings is considered. In comparison with silica waveguides a structure based on chalcogenide glass provides higher nonlinearity. This material has a high normal dispersion in the wavelength range of 1.5–3.5 μm. Periodic waveguide structures can be used to compensate for this dispersion. High-intensity laser pulses propagating in these structures undergo spectral broadening. The influence of the phase self-modulation of a pulse on its spectrum and width is analyzed using numerical simulations.     

Planar waveguides in multicomponent glasses fabricated by field-driven differential drift of cations

The fabrication of planar waveguides by a constant-current thermal poling procedure in multicomponent glasses rich in alkali or alkaline earth ions is described. Near the anode, the dc electric field applied to the substrate separates the mobile cations into regions according to their mobility. Each region presents a different refractive index, allowing a waveguide to be formed. This method produces waveguides with an index increase greater than 10(-2) in soda-lime glass with no external ion source, and the waveguides are buried beneath the substrate surface without an additional step.     

BK7玻璃保护层掺钕磷酸盐玻璃波导特性

实验研究了基于KNO3稀释AgNO3混合熔盐离子交换法制备的镀有BK7玻璃保护层的N31型掺钕磷酸玻璃平面波导。采用棱镜耦合技术测试了其波导的有效折射率,应用IWBK方法拟合了其折射率分布。实验结果表明:在一定的扩散时间(5～7h)和交换温度(360～380℃)范围内,KNO3与AgNO3混合熔盐比对波导制备的影响起主导作用,引起的表面折射率的变化可达到0.025;BK7玻璃保护层对热离子交换掺钕磷酸盐玻璃表面起到了很好的保护作用,获得了良好的导模传输特性,其光传输损耗约为0.9dB/cm。     

Ag+-Li+离子交换制作Er3+/Yb3+共掺磷酸盐玻璃平面光波导

制备了化学稳定的Er3+/Yb3+共掺的磷酸盐玻璃,并在其中制作了用于光放大器和激光器的平面光波导.这种磷酸盐玻璃的失重速率为4.7×10－5g·cm－2·hr－1,小于Kigre公司商业化的磷酸盐玻璃QX/Er的失重速率.采用Ag+-Li+交换技术制作了平面光波导并用m-线光谱在632.8 nm测量了平面光波导的有效折射率.根据反WKB法得到折射率形貌,计算了离子交换参数如:离子交换深度、表面折射率,折射率改变和扩散系数等.     

Protection of phosphate glass by BK7 glass film in ion-exchange processing

Surface corrosion of phosphate glass during ion-exchange processing for optical waveguide fabrication is studied, and a protection method by using BK7 glass film is proposed and demonstrated in this paper. The protection coating processing is described and optical microscope and atomic force microscope observations are presented. Characteristics of the planar waveguide were measured also to show the protection coating would not introduce influence to waveguide formation in the phosphate glass. Experimental results show that the method can serve an effective protection, and will improve the performance of rare-earth-doped active phosphate glass optical waveguides.     

掺半导体玻璃波导特性研究

利用离子交换技术制成了单模和多模掺CdSxSe_1-x半导体玻璃波导。通过对波导参数的测量得出这种波导的折射率剖面满足费米函数分布。同时,对这种K⁺—Na⁺离子交换技术得到的单模波导在0.5145μm波长下输入—输出功率的测量,观测到它的功率限制作用。并得到在Ar⁺激光0.5145μm波长下吸收系敲是4cm^-1。在这篇文章中,我们对波导的光功率限制起源于热效应进行了分析和讨论。     

Photoresist Bragg gratings as beam splitters and beam reflectors for integrated optical systems

Based on the theory of coupled waves the diffraction efficiency (DE) of Bragg reflectors on planar glass waveguides is described for the case of obliquely incident waves. The coupling coefficients of the different types of mode conversion are determined both by a perturbational analysis and by fitting of the theoretical DE curves to the experimental data. Results on the fabrication and use of photoresist gratings on monomode glass waveguides as beam splitters and beam reflectors are given.     

Long-Period Gratings in Planar Optical Waveguides

Our progress in the study of long-period gratings (LPGs) in planar optical waveguides is reviewed. In particular,experimental LPGs in glass and polymer waveguides are presented to demonstrate the potential of LPG-based waveguide devices.     

平面光波导折射率分布的测定

利用棱镜耦合原理与改进的反WKB理论，实现了平面光波导折射率分布的测定.通过该方法获得了离子交换玻璃波导折射率分布曲线，该方法具有操作简单、测量准确的优点.     

K-Na离子交换单模平面波导的制备及其表征

通过K-Na离子交换技术制备了多模玻璃平面波导.采用棱镜耦合技术测量了波导的有效折射率,用IWKB方法拟合得到K-Na离子交换波导的折射率分布符合高斯分布,由色散曲线得到单模波导的制备条件(即扩散深度范围),从而得出单模波导的离子交换时间范围,制备出单模波导,并通过求解WKB色散方程得出单模波导的表面折射率.用普通数码相机,通过对离子交换平面玻璃光波导传输线进行数字成像,根据传输线上的光强分布拟合出光强传输衰减曲线,计算出单模波导的传输损耗大约为0.4 dB/cm.     

Deep subsurface optical waveguides produced by direct writing with femtosecond laser pulses in fused silica and phosphate glass

In the present work, we have analyzed the use of elliptical beam shaping along with low numerical aperture focusing optics in order to produce circular cross-section waveguides in different materials at large processing depths by direct femtosecond laser writing (100 fs, 800 nm, 1 kHz). A variable slit located before the focusing optics allows to generate a nearly elliptical beam shape and also to reduce the effective numerical aperture of the beam along the shat axis of the ellipse. The focusing optics allows to focus the beam deep inside the sample, which is translated at a constant speed transversely to the writing beam direction. The influence of several experimental parameters (energy per pulse, slit width, processing depth) on the properties of the produced waveguides has been analyzed. The influence of the intrinsic properties of the material (refractive index, composition) has been analyzed by comparing results obtained in fused silica and Er:Yb co-doped phosphate glass. The results obtained show that this approach leads to the successful production of deep subsurface (up to 7 mm) waveguides with circular cross-sections. Preliminary results using chirped pulses in the phosphate glass suggest that temporal pulse shaping can be used as an additional parameter to optimize the guided mode symmetry.     

数码照相法测量离子交换平面光波导损耗特性

利用数码相机对离子交换平面玻璃光波导传输线进行数字成像,根据传输线上的光强分布拟合出光强传输衰减曲线,计算出波导的传输损耗.对光波导进行退火处理,研究了波导退火前后的传输损耗特性.退火后0阶模式下传输损耗由2.148 9 dB·cm－1降为0.746 0 dB·cm－1.结果表明,波导的传输损耗是随着模阶数的增加而递增,适当的退火处理明显改善了离子交换波导的质量.     

Optical planar waveguides in Yb³⁺-doped phosphate glasses produced by He⁺ ion implantation

Optical planar waveguides in Yb 3+-doped phosphate glasses are fabricated by implanting triple-energy helium ions. The guiding modes and the near-field intensity distribution are measured by using the prism-coupling method and the end-face coupling setup with a He-Ne laser at 633 nm The intensity calculation method (ICM) is used to reconstruct the refractive index profile of the waveguide. The absorption and the fluorescence investigations reveal that the glass bulk features are well preserved in the active volumes of the waveguides, suggesting the fabricated structures for possible applications as waveguide lasers.     

Low-loss waveguides written with a femtosecond laser for flexible interconnection in a planar light-wave circuit

We describe a low-loss single-mode waveguide in planar light-wave circuit (PLC) glass doped with boron and phosphorus, which is more difficult to write than pure-silica glass. The written waveguide has a rectangular core, a symmetric near-field pattern, and a propagation loss of 0.35 dB/cm. The loss that originates from the mode-field mismatch between the mode-field diameters of the written and the PLC waveguides is less than 0.1 dB/point. In addition, we successfully connected PLC waveguides with a 500-microm-long waveguide written with a laser. The laser-written waveguide can flexibly connect PLC waveguides with a low coupling loss.     

Modelling of surface plasmon resonance waveguide sensor by complex mode expansion and propagation method

Light propagation in a surface plasmon resonance sensor based on a planar glass ion-exchanged waveguide covered with a thin gold layer is modelled using the eigenmode propagation and matching technique. Optical field distribution along the sensor and the dependence of the transmitted power on the refractive index of the sensed medium is calculated. Experimental results obtained with K+↔Na+ ion-exchanged waveguides are also reported. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Multimode reverse-symmetry waveguide sensor for broad-range refractometry

A sensor design that uses a grating-coupled multimode planar optical waveguide for absolute detection of the refractive indices of liquids or gases is presented. The waveguide consists of a simple 50-microm-thick, free-standing glass plate with air beneath it and the sample to be analyzed on top of it. This design offers a simple alternative to the well-known monomode waveguides, and, owing to its so-called reverse-symmetry configuration, a large detection range can be obtained.     

Linear and nonlinear guidance in an ultralow loss planar glass membrane

We describe the fabrication and characterization of a free-standing silica glass membrane waveguide formed using fiber fabrication processes. The membrane has a thickness of 0.6 microm and a width of 60 microm and is many meters long. The optical attenuation is measured as 0.4 dB/m. Such attenuation outperforms that of conventional planar waveguides by several orders of magnitude.     

Influence of surface effects on the performance of lead-niobium-germanate optical waveguides

Lead-niobium-germanate planar waveguides have been produced by pulsed laser deposition. The composition of the waveguides is found to be relatively weakly dependent on the laser fluence, while their surface morphology is affected dramatically. Smooth surfaces are obtained for a narrow fluence range centered at 2.0 J/cm², while particulates having typical diameters of <0.5 μm or droplets with typical diameters of <10 μm are observed at lower and higher fluences, respectively. The refractive index of the waveguides increases with fluence up to 2.1 at 2.0 J/cm², which is close to the value of the bulk glass, and remains constant at higher fluences. Propagation losses show instead a minimum (≈6.5 dB/cm) at 2.0 J/cm². The characteristics of the ablation process that leads to the ejection of solid particulates or molten droplets as well as the increase of the waveguides density on increasing the fluence are discussed to be responsible for the observed optical behavior.