Preparation and characterization of sol-gel derived KTiOPO4 thin films for integrated optical applications

A sol gel route has been developed to produce stoichiometric, dense and crack free KTiOPO₄ (KTP) thin films which exhibit waveguiding. This method involved the deposition and pyrolysis of hydrolyzed solutions of K, Ti and P alkoxides on an appropriate substrate. The final ceramic film morphology is greatly dependent on the preparation chemistry, apparently as a result of the formation of polymetallic complexes. The solution chemistry, processing conditions and their influence on the final ceramic film microstructure will be discussed in detail.Optical properties such as indices of refraction and optical losses have been found to be dependent on the film microstructures. Deposition on different substrates has been undertaken to promote preferential orientation and thus to try to minimize the optical losses in the films. This correlation between the optical losses and microstructures will be discussed in detail.