Microspectroscopy of ultrafast laser inscribed channel waveguides in Yb:tungstate crystals

Abstract

We report microspectroscopy measurements of crystalline channel waveguides fabricated in Yb:KGd(WO4)2 and Yb:KY(WO4)2 using the ultrafast laser inscription technique. From these measurements we find that densification of the WO2W bridge in the double tungstate crystal lattice is responsible for the refractive index increase, which creates the waveguide confinement. We identified that shifts toward lower energies in the ∼760 cm−1 Raman mode indicate regions, which guide light polarized along the crystallographic b axis, while higher energy shifts in the 682 and 898 cm−1 Raman lines correspond to guiding regions for light polarized along the crystallographic a axis.