Title :
Fabrication of ridge waveguides from sol-gel derived Nd-doped SiO 2-TiO2-Al2O3 glass films
Author :
Xiang, Q. ; Zhou, Y. ; Ooi, B.S. ; Lam, Y.L. ; Chan, Y.C. ; Kam, C.H.
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Nanyang Technol. Univ., Singapore
Abstract :
Rare earth doped glass waveguide amplifiers are being actively researched because of their potential applications in DWDM networks. We have fabricated ridge channels from sol-gel derived Nd-doped SiO2 -TiO2-Al2O3 glass films using laser writing lithography and reactive ion etching (RIE). The SEM pictures show that the ridge is properly formed according to our design. The top surface of the ridge is smooth as a result of the Ti and Ni cap protection. However, the side-wall and the etched substrate are much rougher. We believe that the side-wall can be smoothed by re-annealing the channel and the propagation loss can be further reduced by burying the channel through depositing an upper cladding layer around the ridge
Keywords :
aluminosilicate glasses; integrated optics; neodymium; optical fabrication; optical films; optical glass; optical losses; optical waveguides; photolithography; ridge waveguides; scanning electron microscopy; sol-gel processing; sputter etching; waveguide lasers; DWDM networks; Ni; Ni cap protection; SEM pictures; SiO2-TiO2-Al2O3:Nd; Ti; Ti cap protection; etched substrate; fabrication; laser writing lithography; propagation loss; rare earth doped glass waveguide amplifiers; re-annealing; reactive ion etching; ridge waveguides; side-wall; sol-gel derived Nd-doped SiO2-TiO2-Al2 O3 glass films; top surface; upper cladding layer; Etching; Glass; Lithography; Optical device fabrication; Protection; Rough surfaces; Surface roughness; Waveguide lasers; Wavelength division multiplexing; Writing;
Conference_Titel :
LEOS '99. IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society 1999 12th Annual Meeting
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5634-9
DOI :
10.1109/LEOS.1999.811986
