Clean waveguides in lithium niobate thin film formed by He ion implantation

Abstract

We report on the fabrication of channel waveguides by He ion implantation in a single-crystal LiNbO3 film bonded to a SiO2/LiNbO3 substrate. The planar waveguides were also formed under the same conditions to show the refractive index changes and the thermal annealing properties of ion-implanted LiNbO3 thin film. Using a moderate implantation energy, the formed channel waveguides were clean because He ions passed through the LiNbO3 thin film and deposited into the SiO2 layer. The optical propagation properties of channel waveguides were measured using an end-face coupling method, and the theoretical results were simultaneously calculated for comparison. The mode sizes and end-face reflectivities of channel waveguides with different widths were numerically calculated. The propagation losses were also estimated at approximately 12.2 and 14.3 dB/cm for 7 μm- and 5 μm-wide waveguides, respectively, by the Fabry–Perot method.