Optical Waveguides Fabricated by Classical Staining Process

Abstract

Optical waveguides were prepared by the incorporation of silver or copper ions into soda-lime silicate and borosilicate glass substrates using a classical staining process. The waveguides were colorless and optically clear, indicating that silver and copper metal nanoparticles and Cu2O nanoparticles that cause coloration of glasses were not formed. The increase in the refractive index at 633 nm reached 4×10-2 and 1×10-2 for the silver-doped and copper-doped waveguide layers, respectively. The ion distribution measured by energy dispersion X-ray analysis showed that the silver and copper ions reached depths of 5 and 20 µm, respectively, in the substrates. Single-mode propagations at 633 nm and 1.54 µm were observed for both silver-doped and copper-doped waveguides.