Directly UV written silica-on-silicon planar waveguides with low insertion loss

Summary form only given. The photosensitive properties of germanosilica may be utilized to directly induce waveguide patterns into thin-film structures using ultraviolet (UV) light. The advantages of fabricating planar waveguides with UV light include the absence of photolithography and reactive ion etching, flexibility in waveguide geometry, and excellent control of the refractive index step. Direct UV writing of waveguides became a realistic alternative to other fabrication methods when propagation losses below 0.2 dB/cm were reported in single-mode waveguides. However, the coupling loss to optical fibers remained high, typically 1.8 dB/facet, which is significantly more than that obtained with other techniques. In this paper we present results in which the coupling loss to optical fibers has been lowered substantially. In addition, the glass photosensitivity has been increased, thus permitting shorter fabrication times.