Fabrication of buried channel waveguides in photosensitive glass using proton beam writing

Abstract

We report our results on the fabrication and characterization of buried, channel optical waveguides in photosensitive Foturan™ glass using a high energy proton beam. Waveguides were fabricated with varying fluence, and the propagation loss and refractive index change were measured. Near-field mode data measured at 632.8 nm showed that waveguiding could be achieved for all fluences ranging from 1014 to 1016 protons cm2. The maximum positive refractive index change of 1.6× 10-3 was measured for the highest fluence. The waveguide propagation losses measured using the scattering technique were estimated to be in the range of 8.3-12.9 dBcm, increasing with proton fluence. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.