Fabrication of buried channel waveguides in photosensitive glass using proton beam writing

Abstract

We report our results on the fabrication and characterization of buried, channel optical waveguides in photosensitive Foturan™ glass using a high energy proton beam. Waveguides were fabricated with varying fluence, and the propagation loss and refractive index change were measured. Near-field mode data measured at 632.8nm showed that waveguiding could be achieved for all fluences ranging from 1014to1016protons∕cm2. The maximum positive refractive index change of 1.6×10−3 was measured for the highest fluence. The waveguide propagation losses measured using the scattering technique were estimated to be in the range of 8.3–12.9dB∕cm, increasing with proton fluence.