Photolithographic Imaging of Planar Optical Waveguides and Integrated Optic Devices onto Porous Silicate Glasses and Silica Sol-Gels

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe success of photonic switching depends on the development of materials capable of processing light signals without the interweaving conversion to electronic signals. The photodeposition of metal oxides onto porous Vycor glass and silica glass sol-gels produce changes in the index of refraction of the glass of the order of 0.1 to 0.001. Nonlinearities in transmission and refractive index allow the deposition of 1.0-10.0 μm width planar waveguides with attenuations of 0.6 dB/cm. This technique is being evaluated for the optical performance of couplers, dividers, and interferometers. Also 3-dimmensional interactive planar waveguide structures are being fabricated in silica sol-gel thin-films.