Sol-gel glass waveguide and grating on silicon

Author

Najafi, S. Iraj ; Touam, T. ; Sara, R. ; Andrews, M.P. ; Fardad, M.A.

Author_Institution

Photonics Res. Group, Ecole Polytech., Montreal, Que., Canada

Volume

16

Issue

9

fYear

1998

fDate

9/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1640

Lastpage

1646

Abstract

This paper reports on the fabrication and characterization of hybrid organic-inorganic glass sol-gel slab and channel waveguides by ultraviolet light imprinting in thin films deposited by a one-step dip-coating process. The adjustment of chemical composition of the materials provides precise selection of refractive index from 1.48 to 1.52 at the wavelength of 632.8 mn. The refractive index of the waveguides at 1.55 μm is similar to that of optical fiber, thus reducing the reflection loss between the two to less than 0.01 dB. The effect of ultraviolet light exposure and heat treatment on waveguide refractive index is studied. Fabrication parameters to produce ridge waveguides are optimized to achieve very smooth side walls. Propagation losses in these waveguides are ~0.1 dB/cm. Single mode buried waveguides, at 1.55 μm wavelength, with circular mode profile are demonstrated

Keywords

coating techniques; diffraction gratings; integrated optics; light reflection; optical fabrication; optical films; optical glass; optical losses; optical waveguides; refractive index; ridge waveguides; silicon; sol-gel processing; 0.01 dB; 1.55 mum; Si; chemical composition; circular mode profile; fabrication parameters; grating; heat treatment; hybrid organic-inorganic glass sol-gel channel waveguides; hybrid organic-inorganic glass sol-gel slab waveguides; light imprinting; one-step dip-coating process; optical fiber; optical waveguide fabrication; propagation losses; reflection loss; refractive index; ridge waveguides; silicon; single mode buried waveguides; smooth side walls; sol-gel glass waveguide; thin film deposition; waveguide refractive index; Chemicals; Dip coating; Glass; Gratings; Optical device fabrication; Optical waveguides; Refractive index; Silicon; Slabs; Sputtering;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/50.712247

Filename

712247