Abstract
We report on thermally resilient planar waveguides fabricated on nc-YSZ by direct fs-laser inscription in transparent nc-yttria stabilized zirconia (nc-YSZ) polycrystalline ceramic. The waveguides consisted of rectangular sections (4.5 × 2 mm2) on the surface of the sample. Optical characterization at 633 and 810 nm was performed. We estimate a laser-induced refractive index contrast of 10–4. Post-waveguide-fabrication thermal annealing treatments at 750°C for 24 h were carried out to test the resilience of the waveguides and to further reduce the waveguide losses. Both micro-Raman spectroscopy and XPS characterization revealed unmodified lattice and steady chemical features, which are consistent with the waveguide thermal resilience. Our results suggest a promising potential use of nc-YSZ in harsh and high temperature demanding photonic environments.
Highlights
Optical waveguides have been fabricated for multiple photonic applications and are fundamental in integrated photonics due to their micrometric scale
Based on optical microscopy and micro-Raman characterization of the nc-yttria stabilized zirconia (nc-yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ)) samples within the native and laser modified regions, we find no evidence of chemical phase changes occurring during laser direct writing (LDW)
The planar waveguides were inscribed on the surface of custom made 0.8 mm thickness polycrystalline 8% yttria stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) slabs [28], which were polished to optical quality with diamond abrasive of grain size down to 1 μm
Summary
Optical waveguides have been fabricated for multiple photonic applications and are fundamental in integrated photonics due to their micrometric scale Different techniques such as ion implantation [1], thin film deposition [2], and direct fs-laser inscription [3,4,5,6,7] for several materials have been developed to achieve optical guiding. Polycrystalline yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is broadly recognized as one of the most useful high temperature structural materials due to its ionic conducting properties [19], high-temperature stability [20], record toughness [21], and proven biocompatibility [22].
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