Abstract

Optical waveguides of laser gain media are highly desirable because the high intensity-length product and good pump-signal mode overlap, which can be achieved in the waveguide geometry, leads to a reduced threshold pump power as compared to bulk lasers. Although optical waveguides of Gd₃Ga₅O₁₂ (GGG) have been fabricated by ion-implantation of the GGG crystal,¹ the technique is very expensive and a cheaper and simpler alternative is the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. To our knowledge, the successful growth of crystalline laser-host thin films by PLD has not been previously reported.

© 1995 IEEE