Abstract

A new method, inverse ion exchange, is proposed and demonstrated for the fabrication of single-mode channel waveguides. In this method the channel waveguide is formed by backdiffusion of the refractive-index-increasing ions from an ion-exchanged planar waveguide. Finite-difference methods are used to model the fabrication technique and to calculate the field of the fundamental mode of the waveguide. It is also proved experimentally that single-mode waveguides can be fabricated with the inverse ion-exchange method using a 10-μm mask stripe, width.

© 1990 Optical Society of America

Model for waveguide fabrication in glass by two-step ion exchange with ionic masking

A. Tervonen and S. Honkanen
Opt. Lett. 13(1) 71-73 (1988)

Examination of two-step fabrication methods for single-mode fiber compatible ion-exchanged glass waveguides

Ari Tervonen, Pekka Pöyhönen, Seppo Honkanen, Markku Tahkokorpi, and Simo Tammela
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Integrated-optic laser fabricated by field-assisted ion exchange in neodymium-doped soda-lime-silicate glass

N. A. Sanford, K. J. Malone, and D. R. Larson
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P. C. Noutsios and G. L. Yip
Opt. Lett. 15(4) 212-214 (1990)

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J. E. Gortych and D. G. Hall
Opt. Lett. 11(2) 100-102 (1986)