Trimming phase and birefringence errors in photosensitivity-locked planar optical circuits

Author

Chen, Kevin P. ; Herman, Peter R.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Toronto Univ., Ont., Canada

Volume

14

Issue

1

fYear

2002

Firstpage

71

Lastpage

73

Abstract

A strong and stable photosensitivity response was permanently locked into hydrogen-loaded Mach-Zehnder planar waveguide circuits by 248-nm KrF-laser preirradiation. The photosensitivity enhancement survived thermal annealing up to 225 /spl deg/C. Post-laser trimming at 248 nm induced an unsaturated refractive index increase of 0.002, and a birefringence change of /spl utri/n /spl sim/ 0.0001. This combination of photosensitivity locking and post-laser tuning affords wide latitude for precise and stable tuning of waveguide phase errors and birefringence.

Keywords

Mach-Zehnder interferometers; birefringence; electro-optical modulation; integrated optics; laser beam machining; optical planar waveguides; optical waveguide components; refractive index; 225 C; 248 nm; KrF-laser preirradiation; birefringence errors; hydrogen-loaded Mach-Zehnder planar waveguide circuits; photosensitivity enhancement; photosensitivity locking; photosensitivity-locked planar optical circuits; polarization modes; post-laser tuning; strong stable photosensitivity response; thermal annealing; trimming phase; unsaturated refractive index increase; waveguide phase error tuning; Birefringence; Circuits; Fiber lasers; Hydrogen; Laser stability; Optical interferometry; Optical refraction; Optical waveguides; Programmable control; Waveguide lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/68.974165

Filename

974165