Abstract
The use of titanium diffused optical waveguides in ferroelectric LiNbO3 crystals has led to efficient high speed electro-optical directional coupler switches and modulators as well as several other devices for optical processing.1 For many applications an optical power of 0.1 to 1mW in the waveguide is desirable which requires intensities of about 1kW/cm in single mode structures. However, visible light of this intensity changes the refractive index of the waveguides. This effect is called the photorefractive (PR) effect or optical damage. While the effect can be used to advantage for certain devices (for instance using two-photon absorption2) it is a problem for most integrated optical devices. For instance it has recently been shown to be the origin of optical crosstalk drift in Δβ reversal couplers.3 Little effort has been devoted to understanding or eliminating or even characterizing the effect in Ti in-diffused guides, despite the remarkable success in reducing the effect in out-diffused layers.4
© 1980 Optical Society of America
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