Active waveguides by low-fluence carbon implantation in Nd3+-doped fluorophosphate glasses

Abstract

A planar waveguide in the Nd[Formula: see text]-doped fluorophosphate glass is fabricated by a 6.0 MeV C[Formula: see text] ion implantation at a low-fluence of [Formula: see text] ions/cm2. The fluence is close to that in semiconductor industry. The dark mode spectra are recorded by a model 2010 prism coupler. The energy losses during the implantation process and the refractive index profile of the waveguide are simulated by the SRIM 2010 code and the reflectivity calculation method (RCM), respectively. The near-field light intensity profile and the propagation loss of the waveguide are measured by an end-face coupling system. The two-dimensional (2D) modal profile of transverse electric (TE) mode for the fabricated waveguide is calculated by the finite difference beam propagation method (FD-BPM). The results of microluminescence and optical absorption reveal that the spectroscopic characteristics of the Nd[Formula: see text]-doped fluorophosphate glass are nearly unaffected by the carbon ion implantation process. This work suggests that the carbon-implanted Nd[Formula: see text]-doped fluorophosphate glass waveguide is a promising candidate for integrated active devices.