Title :
Laser-induced fracturing: an alternative to mechanical polishing and patterning of LiNbO3 integrated optics chips
Author :
Staus, Chad ; Suess, Ryan ; McCaughan, Leon
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
fDate :
5/1/2004 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
We report a method for cutting z-oriented LiNbO3 substrates into nearly arbitrary shapes using a pulsed UV laser to controllably fracture the crystal. The end surfaces appear optically smooth. Ti-diffused waveguides terminated using this technique have fiber-waveguide-fiber insertion losses which are equal to the lowest values reported for waveguide end faces prepared using conventional mechanical polishing techniques.
Keywords :
fracture; integrated optics; laser ablation; lithium compounds; optical losses; optical materials; optical waveguides; titanium; LiNbO3; LiNbO3 integrated optics chips; Ti; Ti-diffused waveguides; end surfaces; fiber-waveguide-fiber insertion losses; laser-induced fracturing; mechanical polishing; patterning; pulsed UV laser; waveguide end faces; z-oriented LiNbO3 substrate cutting; Fiber lasers; Laser beam cutting; Optical control; Optical fiber losses; Optical pulse shaping; Optical surface waves; Optical waveguides; Shape control; Surface cracks; Waveguide lasers; Integrated optics; laser ablation; loss measurement; waveguides;
Journal_Title :
Lightwave Technology, Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JLT.2004.827672
