Abstract

Integrated optical components based on ion-exchanged glass waveguides are attractive for several reasons. Significant progress has occurred in the past decade in the understanding of the ion-exchange process and its relationship to the dopant profile. It is now possible to model the thermal as well as electric field enhanced ion exchange with reasonable accuracy and to design ion-exchanged waveguides and devices with prespecified characteristics. This paper first describes the theory of the ionexchange process and its application to planar and 2-D (channel) waveguides. Following this, we review the latest results for several passive devices based on single-mode channel waveguides. These include couplers, power dividers, MUX/DEMUX, and polarization splitters. Finally, we point out the latest trends and novel emerging applications of ionexchanged waveguides, such as waveguide lasers and amplifiers, all optical switching, and integration of passive waveguides on glass with optoelectronic devices. We conclude by presenting some of the issues to be addressed for the technology to make an impact on the market.

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