High performance mode adapters based on segmented SPE:LiNbO3 waveguides

Spontaneous Polarization Reversal Induced by Proton Exchange in Z-Cut Lithium Niobate α-Phase Channel Waveguides

The α-phase waveguides directly produced in one fabrication step only are well known for preserving both the excellent nonlinear properties and the ferroelectric domains orientation of lithium niobate substrates. However, by using the piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), we present a coherent study on ferroelectric dipoles switching induced by the fabrication process of α-phase waveguides on Z-cut congruent lithium niobate (CLN) substrates. The obtained results show that the proton exchange process induces a spontaneous polarization reversal and a reduction in the piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃. The quantitative assessments of the impact of proton exchange on the piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ have been quantified for different fabrication parameters. By coupling systematic PFM investigation and optical characterizations of α-phase protonated regions and virgin CLN on ±Z surfaces of the samples, we find a very good agreement between index contrast (optical investigation) and d₃₃ reduction (PFM investigations). We clearly show that the increase in the in-diffused proton concentration (increase in index contrast) in protonated zones decreases the piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ values. Furthermore, having a high interest in nonlinear performances of photonics devices based on PPLN substrates, we have also investigated how deep the spontaneous polarization reversal induced by proton exchange takes place inside the α-phase channel waveguides.

Integrated photonic devices based on adiabatic transitions between supersymmetric structures

We introduce adiabatic transitions connecting two supersymmetric partner profiles by smoothly modifying the transverse refractive index profile along the propagation direction. With this transformation, one of the transverse electric modes evolves adapting its shape and propagation constant without being coupled to other guided or radiated modes while the rest of the modes are radiated. This technique offers a systematic way to manipulate the modal content in systems of optical waveguides and engineer efficient and robust photonic devices such as tapered waveguides, single-waveguide mode filters, beam splitters and interferometers. Numerical simulations show that very high fidelities and transmitted powers are obtained for a broad range of devices lengths and light's wavelengths.

Unexpected light behaviour in periodic segmented waveguides

In this article, it is shown that multimode periodic segmented waveguides (PSW) are versatile optical systems in which properties of wave chaos can be highlighted. Numerical wave analysis reveals that structures of quantum phase space of PSW are similar to Poincaré sections which display a mixed phase space where stability islands are surrounded by a chaotic sea. Then, unexpected light behavior can occur such as, input gaussian beams do not diverge during the propagation in a highly multimode waveguide.

Highly efficient coupling in lithium niobate photonic wires by the use of a segmented waveguide coupler

The purpose of this article is to show that efficient light coupling in lithium niobate waveguides presenting a strongly confined mode, such as photonic wires, is possible with the use of a periodically segmented waveguide coupler. The coupler consists in an input periodically segmented waveguide whose mode size is adapted to the mode of a standard single-mode fiber coupled to a photonic wire whose mode size is of the same order of the wavelength. The periodic segmentation of the input waveguide allows fulfilling the phase matching condition necessary to achieve an efficient light transfer between these waveguides. The coupling efficiency is typically 5 times higher than the butt-coupled configuration.

Waveguide mode filters fabricated using laser-induced forward transfer

Titanium (Ti)-in-diffused lithium niobate waveguide mode filters fabricated using laser-induced forward transfer followed by thermal diffusion are presented. The mode control was achieved by adjusting the separation between adjacent Ti segments thus varying the average value of the refractive index along the length of the in-diffused channel waveguides. The fabrication details, loss measurements and near-field optical characterization of the mode filters are presented. Modeling results regarding the device performance are also discussed.