Control of birefringence in ion-exchanged glass waveguides

Measurement of the modal birefringence of single-mode K(+) ion-exchanged planar waveguides with polarimetric interferometry

The polarimetric interference pattern on the surface of single-mode planar waveguides made by potassium ion exchange in soda-lime glass substrates can be observed through a 45 degrees analyzer, which allows for the high-precision measurement of the modal birefringence of samples in a wide range of 0 to 5 x 10(-4). Using this method, believed to be new, we investigated the effects of exchange temperature and time on the modal birefringence of single-mode potassium ion-exchanged waveguides. The modal birefringence profile was achieved by measurement of the variation of the phase difference between the TE(0) and the TM(0) modes with hydrofluoric-acid-etching depth of the sample.

Birefringence control for ion-exchanged channel glass waveguides

We show that at 1.55-mum wavelength the waveguide birefringence of ion-exchanged channel waveguides in glass can be broadly tuned by a potassium and silver double-ion exchange. Two different potassium and silver double-ion-exchange processes are used to make surface waveguides with negligible waveguide birefringence. This process is crucially important in the manufacture of devices for dense wavelength-division multiplexing systems. The dependence of the waveguide birefringence on the channel width is also reported.

Double-ion-exchange process in glass for the fabrication of computer-generated waveguide holograms

We experimentally optimize double-ion-exchange process parameters to achieve a designed phase modulation for a wave front passing through a computer-generated waveguide hologram and numerically analyze the effects of fabrication errors. We also demonstrate a gradient-thickness waveguide hologram for ? beam splitting.

Potassium-and silver-double-ion-exchanged slab glass waveguides: characterization and modeling

Double-ion-exchanged glass waveguides are made first by a potassium-ion exchange followed by a silver-ion exchange. The inverse WKB method is used to determine the index profile. It is shown that a combination of a truncated quadratic function and a complementary error function represents the refractive index best. A direct WKB method is employed to find the maximum index change and the diffusion coefficient of the second exchange process. The concentration of silver, potassium, and sodium ions are measured by an x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy technique. The results agree well with the index profile when a quadratic function is used.

Stress-induced optical effects in Ag(+)-Na(+) ion-exchanged glass waveguides

Birefringence data on Ag(+)-Na(+) ion-exchanged planar waveguides are presented that are experimentally determined by a high-frequency polarimetric technique. The examined systems exhibit positive stress-induced birefringence across the whole exchanged regions, corresponding to compressive stress fields of the order of 10(2) MPa. Furthermore, refractive-index profiles have been compared with compositional secondary-ion-mass spectrometry in-depth profiles and show that, in the case of silver-sodium exchange, the stress contribution to the index change is negligible with respect to the compositional one.