Abstract

Lithium niobate waveguide modulation and switching devices have generated much interest in recent years. Their eventual use in real optical systems requires that they perform acceptably for a time period measured of the order of thousands of hours. Performance evaluations to date, however, have not been sufficiently directed or detailed to serve diagnostically as a predictor of operating lifetime. Although Tangonan et al.¹ reported on the high laser power capabilities of their Ti-indiffused lithium tantalate optical waveguides, their measurements were only semiquantitative and did not emphasize either the degradation kinetics or time of observation.

© 1981 Optical Society of America