Open Access[REMOVED MACROBUTTON FIELD]Low-loss channel optical waveguide fabrication in Nd^3+-doped silicate glasses by femtosecond laser direct writing
Author(s) -
Shiling Li,
Pin Han,
Meng Shi,
Yicun Yao,
Bing Hu,
Mingwei Wang,
Xing Zhu
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.19.023958
Subject(s) - optics , femtosecond , materials science , laser , waveguide , refractive index , neodymium , optoelectronics , physics
Optical waveguides were fabricated in neodymium-doped silicate glass by using a low-repetition-rate (1 kHz) femtosecond laser inscription. Two different types of waveguide structure are fabricated. In the first, guiding occurs in the focal spot. In the second, guiding occurs in the region between the two filaments. The near-field intensity distribution, propagation loss, index profile reconstruction, and calculation of the modal intensity distribution by the beam propagation method of these waveguides are presented. On the basis of near-field intensity distribution of the light guided through the waveguides and the propagation loss measurement, the optimum writing conditions such as the pulse energy and scan velocity were determined. The waveguide written with 2.2 µJ pulse energy and 50 µm/s scan velocity shows strong guidance at 632.8 nm, with an index contrast of 7 × 10(-4) and a propagation loss of ~0.8 dB/cm.