Low-loss electrooptic BaTiO/sub 3/ thin film waveguide modulator

A strip-loaded electrooptic waveguide modulator based on an epitaxial BaTiO/sub 3/ thin film was fabricated and characterized for the first time. The strip-loaded waveguide structure greatly improves waveguide propagation and polarization-dependent loss performance. A propagation loss of 1.1 dB/cm and polarization dependent loss of 0.1 dB/cm were measured. The electrooptic waveguide modulator exhibited a half-wave voltage-interaction length product of 4.5 V /spl middot/ cm at a wavelength of 1542 nm. The measured effective electrooptic coefficient of the as-grown BaTiO/sub 3/ waveguide modulator was 38 pm/V. The experimental results indicate that a strip-loaded thin film waveguide modulator is suitable for photonic applications.     

Polarisation-insensitive Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ strip-loaded BaTiO/sub 3/ thin-film waveguide with low propagation losses

A low-loss and polarisation-insensitive singlemode BaTiO/sub 3/ thin-film waveguide is reported. Polarisation-dependent loss as low as 0.1 dB/cm at a wavelength of 1.55 /spl mu/m has been achieved by a novel Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ strip-loaded BaTiO/sub 3/ waveguide structure. Propagation loss of less than 0.9 dB/cm for both TE and TM polarisations was measured     

CO2laser annealing of Si3N4, Nb2O5, and Ta2O5thin-film optical waveguides to achieve scattering loss reduction

Significant reductions in the optical scattering losses of Si3N4, Nb2O5, and Ta2O5waveguides fabricated on SiO2/Si substrates have been measured following CO2laser annealing. The largest improvements were observed for Si3N4waveguides, where waveguide attenuation values of about 6.0 dB/cm before laser annealing were reduced to as low as 0.1 dB/cm afterwards. An improvement of more than an order of magnitude was obtained for a Nb2O5waveguide upon laser annealing, the attenuation coefficient decreasing from 7.4 to 0.6 dB/cm. In the case of one Nb2O5waveguide no improvement was obtained upon laser annealing. The attenuation coefficient of a reactively sputtered Ta2O5waveguide was found to decrease from 1.3 dB/cm before laser annealing to 0.4 dB/cm afterwards. In the case of a thermally oxidized Ta2O5waveguide a small initial improvement in waveguide attenuation was followed by degradation upon further laser annealing.     

Er/sup 3+/ glass waveguide amplifier at 1.5 mu m on silicon

Highly Er/sup 3+/-doped sodium calcium silicate glass waveguide was fabricated on oxidised silicon wafers. An Er/sup 3+/ absorption of 8.5 dB/cm was measured at 1.53 mu m, whereas transmission loss outside the Er/sup 3+/ absorption band was estimated to be approximately 1 dB/cm. By pumping the waveguide with 120 mW of power at 975 nm the 1.53 mu m signal intensity was enhanced by 21 dB.<>     

Low-loss proton-exchanged waveguide in MgO-doped LiNbO3fabricated with pyrophosphoric acid using Ta2O5protective mask

The authors describe low-loss proton-exchanged channel waveguides in MgO-doped LiNbO₃. The authors demonstrate the application of a Ta₂O₅ film for the protective mask material in proton-exchanging instead of a Ta film in order to reduce the propagation loss. A Ta₂O₅ sputtered film was applied as a protective mask with pyrophosphoric acid. The propagation loss of the waveguide, measured with laser diode light (λ=0.83 μm) was 0.5 dB/cm. It is shown that the use of a Ta₂O₅ mask reduces the propagation loss compared with the use of a Ta mask (1.5 dB/cm)     

Low-loss polyimide-Ta2O5-SiO2hybrid ARROW waveguides

A low-loss polyimide-Ta₂O₅-SiO₂ hybrid antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) is presented. The ARROW device was fabricated using both the organic and dielectric thin-film technologies. It consists of the fluorinated polyimide, tantalum pentoxide (Ta₂O₅), and silicon dioxide (SiO₂) hybrid layers deposited on a Si substrate. For transverse electric polarized light, the propagation loss of the waveguide as low as 0.4 dB/cm was obtained at 1.31 μm. The propagation loss for transverse magnetic polarized light is 1.5 dB/cm. An ARROW waveguide fabricated using the polyimide-Ta₂O₅ -polyimide material system is also presented for comparison     

Influence of water sorption on acrylic polymer waveguide loss

The influence of water sorption on acrylic polymer waveguides was studied by measuring the loss changes in the atmosphere at 13 to 98% RH. The absorption peak at 1.41 μm increased from 0.5 to 2 dB/cm due to water sorption. This peak resulted in a small loss change of 0.03 dB/cm at 1.3 μm, which was successfully measured using a 57 cm waveguide with a loss of around 0.1 dB/cm. Relationships between loss change and water sorption were also revealed by measuring the water content of the polymers     

Scattering loss reduction in polymer waveguides by reflowing

A polymer channel waveguide was fabricated by reactive ion etching. Loss measurements were performed on this waveguide before and after reflowing. The waveguide loss decreases from 3 to 1 dB/cm by heating the sample slightly above the glass transition temperature of the core material. This result in channel loss is very close to the measured film losses of 0.8 dB/cm.     

Extremely low loss InP/GaInAsP rib waveguides

The authors have fabricated InP/GaInAsP rib waveguides with losses as low as 0.18 dB/cm for the TE polarisation and 0.26 dB/cm for the TM polarisation. The length of the waveguides was 28 mm. These losses are measured with the Fabry-Perot method and repeated for different lengths of the waveguide for determining the reflection coefficient.<>     

Fabrication of LiTaO3 optical waveguides by Ni diffusionbelow the Curie temperature

Using Ni diffusion into LiTaO₃ below the Curie temperature for the fabrication of optical waveguides was presented for the first lime. Ordinary and extraordinary polarization waveguide modes were obtained. The index distribution profiles of both modes were measured by a prism coupler. Loss in planar waveguides at 0.6328 μm is 0.7±0.1 dB/cm for the ordinary mode and 1.3±0.2 dB/cm for the extraordinary mode. Moreover, a Mach-Zehnder interferometer was fabricated by this method for electrooptic characterization. The measured half-wave voltage is 5.5 V and the extinction ratio is greater than 29 dB     

Zn indiffusion waveguide polarizer on a Y-cut LiNbO3 at1.32-μm wavelength

A polarization-dependent loss measurement of Zn indiffusion (ZI) waveguide on a Y-cut LiNbO₃ substrate is firstly reported. The measured results show that the waveguides support either a single extraordinary polarization or both extraordinary and ordinary polarizations depending on the fabrication process parameters. For the single extraordinary polarization waveguide, the measured propagation loss at 1.32-μm wavelength is 0.9 dB/cm and the best measured polarization extinction ratio is 44 dB at a distance of 1.5 cm from the input end, which are quite good for being a waveguide polarizer. Moreover, the voltage-length product measured for the ZI Mach-Zehnder modulator shows that the substrate electrooptic coefficient is not degraded     

Polyimide/Ta2O5/polyimide antiresonantreflecting optical waveguides

A novel antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) fabricated using both the organic and dielectric thin film technologies is presented for the first time. The ARROW consisted of the fluorinated polyimide and tantalum pentoxide (Ta₂O₅) hybrid layers deposited on a Si substrate. For TE polarized light, the propagation loss of the waveguide as low as 0.8 dB/cm is obtained at 632.8 nm. The propagation loss for TM polarized light is 2.7 dB/cm. Some design considerations of the hybrid ARROW are also discussed in this work     

A long InGaAsP/InP waveguide section with small dimensions

A spirally folded InGaAsP/InP ridge-type waveguide with 12.4 mm length, corresponding to 4-cm free-space length, on a device area of 1 mm×1 mm, was realized. Insertion loss was measured to be 4 dB for TE-polarization and 4.5 dB for TM-polarization, most of which is caused by normal propagation loss (2 dB/cm for straight waveguides). Excess bending loss is estimated to be 1.5 dB for TE and 2 dB for TM-polarization     

Low-loss GaAs/AlGaAs optical waveguides on InP substrates

It is shown that the waveguide losses in lattice-mismatched GaAs-on-InP structures can be significantly reduced using an appropriate buffer layer. An AlGaAs buffer layer sequence was used for this purpose. A thin (400 nm) layer of Al_0.7Ga_0.3As, with an index below that of InP, was placed adjacent to the GaAs guiding layer both to maximize optical confinement in the guide and to increase the allowable guide dimensions for a single planar waveguide mode. Additional separation between guide and mismatched interface was achieved by inserting an Al_0.5Ga_0.5As layer with an index nearly equal to that of InP between the low-index buffer and InP. The final waveguide structure also included a thin (<40 nm) GaAs layer which was used to initiate growth and did not affect waveguide performance. Low losses (typically 3 dB/cm, with best results below 1 dB/cm) were achieved at a 1.52-μm wavelength for samples grown by organometallic chemical vapor deposition     

Powder core dielectric channel waveguide

A powder-filled rectangular groove in the surface of a plastic substrate has been demonstrated as a dielectric waveguide at 94 GHz. Propagation losses as low as 0.09 dB/cm were measured by direct transmission with nickel-aluminum titanate powder in a polypropylene substrate and with barium tetratitanate powder in a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) substrate; values as low as 0.06 dB/cm were deduced from ring resonator measurements. Guide wavelengths measured for various combinations of guide dimensions, powders, and substrates agree within 10% with values predicted by the approximate theory of Marcatili for the E₁₁^y mode. Effective loss tangents for the powders at 94 GHz were calculated from waveguide attenuation measurements, using Marcatili's field solutions. Ring resonators fabricated by filling a groove in a polypropylene substrate with nickel-aluminum titanate powder exhibit Q's as high as 2400 at 94 GHz in an 8 cm diameter ring. Coupling to the resonators was achieved with adjacent straight powder core channel guides as directional couplers     

ARROW-type polarizer utilizing form birefringence in multilayerfirst cladding

A waveguide polarizer using an ARROW (antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide) structure, of which the first cladding consists of three thin layers, is proposed. Theoretical calculation shows that this polarizer can achieve isolation over 30 dB/cm with an insertion loss of 0.01 dB/cm at 1.3 μm. Isolation of 83 dB/cm with insertion loss of 4.3 dB/cm was experimentally obtained at 0.633 μm. This structure is suitable for the integration of a polarization splitter and photodetector     

AlGaAs/GaAs-ARROW waveguides

The first demonstration of a passive vertical antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) realised in the AlGaAs/GaAs material system is reported. Losses of 2.6 dB/cm for the TE- and 3.5 dB/cm for the TM-ARROW modes were obtained at a wavelength of 0.83 mu m for samples with 4 mu m-wide ridges.<>     

Low-loss polymeric optical waveguides fabricated with deuteratedpolyfluoromethacrylate

Deuterated polyfluoromethacrylate which has high transparency, low birefringence and good processability was newly synthesized for use as optical waveguide materials, and both single-mode and multimode optical waveguides were fabricated using the polymer. The propagation loss and waveguide birefringence of the single-mode waveguides were as low as 0.10 dB/cm and -5.5×10^-6 at 1.31 μm, respectively. The propagation losses of the multimode waveguides were less than 0.02 dB/cm at both 0.68 and 0.83 μm, and 0.07 dB/cm at 1.31 μm     

利用有机-无机溶胶-凝胶方法制备平面波导环形谐振腔

采用简单的有机-无机混合的溶胶-凝胶方法制备了折射率在一定范围内可调的波导材料,并利用其制备了平面波导环形谐振腔器件。波导结构呈现倒脊形,其制备工艺首先是利用感应耦合等离子体刻蚀技术(ICP)在二氧化硅衬底上刻蚀波导结构的凹槽,然后再沉积波导薄膜。利用光谱仪对器件的传输特性进行了测量,观测到具有10 dB对比度,自由光谱范围0.182 nm周期性谐振现象,结合环形谐振腔的传输特性,得到环形腔具有较低的传输损耗1.7 dB/cm。同时对环形谐振腔的温度特性进行了测量,得出波导材料的热光系数为-1.54×10-4/℃。     

Low-loss CaxBa1−xNb2O6 ridge waveguide for electro-optic devices

Optical ridge waveguide using calcium barium niobate (CBN) on silicon substrate for the first time is designed, fabricated and characterized for future integrated electro-optic devices. To obtain single-mode propagation, the CBN thin strip is designed to be surrounded by thick silicon dioxide layer forming a ridge waveguide. Deposition of CBN film on profiled silicon dioxide introduces spatial separation which solves the CBN etching problem. Fabrication, edge polishing and near-field mode profile measurement of the waveguide are carried out. The measurement is in good agreement with the simulation and an exact loss as low as 2.15 dB/cm was obtained for the fabricated waveguide.