Visible and near-infrared waveguides formed by double-energy proton implantation in magneto-optical glasses

• Published in: Applied physics. B, Lasers and optics Lasers and optics, 2017-02, Vol.123 (2), p.1-6, Article 56
• Main Authors: Liu, Chun-Xiao, Shen, Xiao-Liang, Zheng, Rui-Lin, Guo, Hai-Tao, Li, Wei-Nan, Wei, Wei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum; Applied physics; Beams (radiation); Borosilicate glass; Competitive materials; Coupling; Engineering; Ion implantation; Lasers; Luminous intensity; Magnetic properties; Optical Devices; Optical glass; Optical properties; Optical waveguides; Optics; Optoelectronics; Photonics; Physical Chemistry; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Planar waveguides; Protons; Quantum Optics; Verdet constant
• ISSN: 0946-2171; 1432-0649
• DOI: 10.1007/s00340-017-6644-8

Ion implantation is one of the most competitive methods for the fabrication of optical waveguide structures in optoelectronic materials. Tb 3+ -doped aluminum borosilicate glass has been demonstrated to be a type of magneto-optical glass with high Verdet constant. In this work, the proton implantation technique with energies of (500 + 550) keV and fluences of (1.0 + 2.0) × 10 16 ions/cm 2 is performed to form planar waveguides in the Tb 3+ -doped aluminum borosilicate glass. The guiding modes of the fabricated waveguide were measured by the prism-coupling method at wavelengths of 632.8 and 1539 nm. The near-field light intensity distribution was measured by the end-face coupling method at the wavelength of 632.8 nm and calculated by the finite-difference beam propagation method at both 632.8 and 1539 nm. The optical properties of the double-energy proton-implanted magneto-optical glass waveguides show promise for use as multi-functional integrated optical devices in the visible and near-infrared bands.