EP1204977A4 - Ecriture directe de dispositifs optiques en verre a base de silice faisant appel des lasers a impulsion femtoseconde - Google Patents

Ecriture directe de dispositifs optiques en verre a base de silice faisant appel des lasers a impulsion femtoseconde

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Publication number
EP1204977A4
EP1204977A4 EP00950775A EP00950775A EP1204977A4 EP 1204977 A4 EP1204977 A4 EP 1204977A4 EP 00950775 A EP00950775 A EP 00950775A EP 00950775 A EP00950775 A EP 00950775A EP 1204977 A4 EP1204977 A4 EP 1204977A4
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
focus
refractive index
substrate
scan
silica
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP00950775A
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German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1204977A1 (fr
Inventor
Nicholas F Borrelli
Charlene M Smith
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Corning Inc
Original Assignee
Corning Inc
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Corning Inc filed Critical Corning Inc
Publication of EP1204977A1 publication Critical patent/EP1204977A1/fr
Publication of EP1204977A4 publication Critical patent/EP1204977A4/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
    • G11C—STATIC STORES
    • G11C13/00—Digital stores characterised by the use of storage elements not covered by groups G11C11/00, G11C23/00, or G11C25/00
    • G11C13/04—Digital stores characterised by the use of storage elements not covered by groups G11C11/00, G11C23/00, or G11C25/00 using optical elements ; using other beam accessed elements, e.g. electron or ion beam
    • G11C13/041—Digital stores characterised by the use of storage elements not covered by groups G11C11/00, G11C23/00, or G11C25/00 using optical elements ; using other beam accessed elements, e.g. electron or ion beam using photochromic storage elements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B23K—SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM
    • B23K26/00—Working by laser beam, e.g. welding, cutting or boring
    • B23K26/02—Positioning or observing the workpiece, e.g. with respect to the point of impact; Aligning, aiming or focusing the laser beam
    • B23K26/06—Shaping the laser beam, e.g. by masks or multi-focusing
    • B23K26/062—Shaping the laser beam, e.g. by masks or multi-focusing by direct control of the laser beam
    • B23K26/0622—Shaping the laser beam, e.g. by masks or multi-focusing by direct control of the laser beam by shaping pulses
    • B23K26/0624—Shaping the laser beam, e.g. by masks or multi-focusing by direct control of the laser beam by shaping pulses using ultrashort pulses, i.e. pulses of 1 ns or less
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
    • G11C—STATIC STORES
    • G11C13/00—Digital stores characterised by the use of storage elements not covered by groups G11C11/00, G11C23/00, or G11C25/00
    • G11C13/04—Digital stores characterised by the use of storage elements not covered by groups G11C11/00, G11C23/00, or G11C25/00 using optical elements ; using other beam accessed elements, e.g. electron or ion beam

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to methods for efficiently forming optical devices in glass. Specifically, the invention relates to direct-write methods of forming light guiding structures in glass compositions through light-induced refractive index changes using pulsed lasers having a pulse duration less than about 150 femtoseconds. The invention also relates to the optical devices made by the direct-write methods.
  • Optical devices such as optical waveguides and Bragg diffraction gratings are widely known in the telecommunications field.
  • a higher refractive index core surrounded by a lower refractive index cladding can transmit a large amount of optical information over long distances with little signal attenuation.
  • the optical waveguide fiber is the prototype device of this type. The fiber is produced by a method that, by virtue of its fabrication, gives the proper waveguiding structure.
  • a Bragg grating is another type of optical device that can be used to isolate a narrow band of wavelengths from a broader signal.
  • the most common materials used commercially in telecommunications applications of light guiding devices are doped silica-based compositions.
  • pulsed laser sources can be used to effect both index changes and to produce physical damage in glass.
  • the use of pulsed UV radiation sources for writing Bragg gratings is known.
  • a "direct-write" laser method of forming optical waveguides within a glass volume that is transparent to the wavelength of a femtosecond laser has been disclosed.
  • a 120 fs pulsed 810-nm laser is focused within a polished piece of germania-doped silica as the glass is translated perpendicular to the incident beam through the focus.
  • Increases in refractive index on the order of 10 "2 were reported for a specific condition in which the focus was scanned ten times over the exposed area.
  • Femtosecond lasers can be operated in three modes. Each of these has advantages and disadvantages associated with it. The properties of each laser configuration also make materials more or less desirable for a certain application. The table below presents some of the characteristics of these different modes. The table above illustrates the operational trade-offs as a consequence of how the laser is configured. While it is relatively easy to obtain a 100 MHz repetition rate using the oscillator mode when the pulse energy is less than 10 nJ, at the ⁇ J level of energy the repetition rate is traded off and drops to the several kHz range.
  • Mode quality which is qualitatively described by the temporal and spatial integrity of the beam, is relatively poor in the amplified system and improves when the oscillator is used. Similarly, the overall stability of the laser is found to be more robust in the oscillator case. These parameters turn out to be of practical importance in direct-write methods of making optical devices where one needs to control the dimensional stability of the laser beam in order to write closely spaced optical structures in the substrate, such as diffraction grating lines.
  • soft silica-based materials exhibit increased sensitivity to ultra-fast laser writing of optical structures in the bulk.
  • femtosecond laser-induced refractive index changes can be more easily produced in silica-based compositions having an annealing point that is lower than that of the 5 mol.% germania (GeO 2 ) - 95 mol.% silica (SiO 2 ) system in that lower pulse energies and faster translation speeds can produce equivalent increases in refractive index as harder silica-based materials.
  • a method is provided to directly write light guiding structures in glass using short-pulse lasers with substantially no physical damage of the glass.
  • a method is provided to write three dimensional optical structures in silica-based bulk glass.
  • the invention provides for translating the refractive index-increasing focus of an ultra-fast laser through a silica-based substrate in the x, y, and z-dimensions.
  • Fig. 1 is a schematic arrangement of equipment used in practicing the invention.
  • Fig. 2(a) and Fig. 2(b) show the positioning of the incident laser beam relative to the scan direction in the top-write and axial-write orientations, respectively.
  • Fig. 3(a) and Fig. 3(b) show the scanning beam profile and a photograph of waveguides cross-sectional shape in the top-write orientations, respectively.
  • Fig. 3(c) and Fig. 3(d) show the scanning beam profile and a photograph of waveguides cross-sectional shape in the axial-write orientations, respectively.
  • Fig. 4(a) and Fig. 4(b) are perspective views of the top-write arrangement of directly writing three dimensional optical devices in bulk glass.
  • Fig. 5 is a schematic drawing of the equipment set-up for observing the far-field pattern.
  • Fig. 6 is a photograph of a far-field intensity pattern of a waveguide written in a silica-based material according to the invention.
  • Fig. 7 is a photograph of a far-field intensity pattern of a waveguide written in borate-doped silica according to the invention.
  • Figs. 8(a) - 8(b) are photographs of near-field intensity patterns of waveguides written in fused silica, germania-doped silica.
  • Fig. 8(c) is a trace of the intensity of the near field pattern and borate-doped silica.
  • Figs. 9(a) - 9(d) show various exemplary optical devices that can be made using the invention.
  • Fig. 10 is a photograph of a Y-coupler written in silica using the invention.
  • the direct-write method of forming light guiding structures in a bulk substrate includes the steps of selecting a substrate made from a silica-based material in which the light guiding structure is to the written, focusing a pulsed laser beam at a position within the substrate effective to induce an increase in the refractive index of a portion of the irradiated material, and translating the substrate and focus with respect to one another to form a light guiding structure within the substrate along the scan path.
  • Laser 1 generates a pulsed laser beam 2 which is focused at a focus 3 positioned within a glass sample 4 by a lens 5.
  • the sample is translated in one or more of the x-direction 6, y-direction 7, and z-direction 8 to effect translation of the sample with respect to the laser beam focus at a desired translation or scan speed.
  • Such translation of the sample with respect to the focal point may be accomplished by a positioning or translation device (not shown), such as a computer controlled XYZ stage. Focusing of the laser beam significantly increases the peak intensity of the beam compared to an unfocused beam.
  • the high intensity of the focused beam effects an increase in the refractive index of the glass along the path traced by the beam focus as it is translated through the sample.
  • the resulting region of increased refractive index can guide light and therefore can function as an optical waveguide.
  • top writing results from translating the sample in a scan direction 13 that is substantially perpendicular to the incident beam, as shown in Fig. 2(a).
  • An “axial writing” method results from translating the sample in a scan direction 13 that is substantially parallel to the incident beam, as shown in Fig. 2(b).
  • top-writing may also be accomplished by translating the sample in just the x-direction, just the y-direction, or both the x-direction and y-direction simultaneouisy.
  • Fig. 3 (a) and Fig. 3(b) differ from those of axial-written waveguides, as shown in Fig. 3(c) and Fig. 3(d).
  • the beam profile in the vicinity of the focus relative to the scan direction 13 is shown for the top-write orientation in Fig. 3(a) and for the axial-write orientation in Fig. 3(c), respectively.
  • a generally elliptoid cross-section of the waveguide may be produced, as indicated by Fig. 3(b).
  • a generally circular cross-section of the waveguide often results, as indicated by Fig. 3(d).
  • axially-written waveguides are generally preferred in order to produce waveguides having substantially circular cross-sections.
  • Top-writing may be desired in order to write continuous linear waveguides longer than the focal length of the focusing lens.
  • the ability to write three-dimensional waveguides in a sample using the present direct-write method is described further with reference to Figs. 4(a) and 4(b).
  • the laser beam 2 can be focused by a lens 5 to a focus 3 positioned within glass sample 4.
  • Translation of the sample in the x-, y-, and z-directions from a first position (xi.yi.Zi) at depth Di to a second position (x 2l y 2 , z 2 ) at depth D 2 causes an increase in the refractive index of the glass along the scan path 9 to form an optical waveguide extending in three dimensions between the first and second positions within the sample.
  • Xi may be the same as x l yi may be the same as y 2 , or z ⁇ may be the same as z 2 .
  • Xi and y ! may be the same as x 2 and y 2, respectively, y-i and z ⁇ may be the same as y 2 and z 2 , respectively, or x, and z, may be the same as x 2 and z 2 , respectively.
  • the pulsed laser beam is characterized by several beam parameters.
  • the beam parameters include the wavelength, pulse duration or pulse width, pulse energy, and repetition rate.
  • the laser wavelength and sample are selected to minimize optical absorption of the beam energy by the sample.
  • the wavelength can fall within the range of about 400 nm to about 1100 nm, preferably from about 800 nm to about 830 nm. Within this range of wavelengths, the optical absorption of the beam by a silica-based sample is virtually nonexistent.
  • the glass materials intended to be used with this invention are substantially transparent to the wavelengths of interest.
  • the time duration of each pulse is preferably less than about 150 fs. Lasers having pulse widths of this duration or shorter are referred to as femtosecond or ultra-fast lasers. More preferably, the pulse duration is less than about 100 fs. Most preferably, the pulse width is about 40 fs to about 60 fs. Lasers having pulse widths as short as 18 fs have been used to practice the invention.
  • the energy per pulse, or pulse energy can be from about 1 nJ to about 10 ⁇ J, preferably within the range of about 0.1 to about 10 ⁇ J. More preferably, the pulse energy falls within the range of about 1 to about 4 ⁇ J.
  • the repetition rate or pulse frequency preferably falls within the range extending from about 1 kHz to about 250 kHz for amplified laser systems, but can be as high as 80 MHz.
  • the laser can be any device capable of generating a pulsed laser beam characterized by the desired beam parameters.
  • the laser may be, for example, a Ti:Sapphire amplifier system.
  • One suitable laser is a Quantronix Odin multipass amplifier seeded with a mode-locked Ti'.sapphire oscillator.
  • a suitable focusing lens includes a microscope objective having a magnification power of about 5x to about 20x.
  • the focusing lens preferably has a numerical . aperture (NA) of about 0.16 to about 0.25.
  • NA numerical . aperture
  • An especially preferred focusing lens is a 10x, 0.16 NA aspheric lens. A diffraction limited spot size of the focused laser beam was achieved using this lens.
  • the translation device may be any device capable of translating the sample with respect to the beam focus at the translation speeds of interest.
  • the translation speed lies in the range of about 5 ⁇ m/s to about 500 ⁇ m/s or faster.
  • a computer controlled XYZ positioning device available from the Newport
  • the invention is not limited to such regular solid geometries. Rather, the invention can be used to direct-write optical waveguides in virtually any regular- or irregular-shaped three-dimensional sample. It is preferred, however, that the sample be positioned relative to the incident laser beam such that the beam is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the sample through which the incident beam passes.
  • composition of the substrates in which the light guiding structures may be written by this invention are silica-based materials, including undoped fused silica and doped binary and ternary silica systems.
  • Silica-based materials are preferred in light of their various desirable optical properties as well as their widespread use in telecommunication device applications.
  • silica-based materials we mean glass compositions that include silica and which are essentially free of alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metal elements, as well as other impurities which would cause absorption in the 1300 - 1600 nm range. If present at all, such impurities will typically not be found in the silica-based materials used in this invention at levels higher than 10 ppb (parts per billion).
  • waveguides can be written more easily in bulk substrates made from soft silica-based glass compositions using lower pulse energies and/or faster translation speeds than in hard silica-based materials without sacrificing the magnitude of the induced index change.
  • Soft silica-based compositions appear to be more sensitive to direct writing of light guiding structures using ultra-fast (femtosecond) lasers than hard silica-based composition glasses.
  • "soft" silica-based materials are defined as doped or undoped silica-based materials having an annealing point less than that of 5 mol.% GeO 2 - 95 mol.% SiO 2 , i.e., silica-based materials having an annealing point less than about 1380°K.
  • the preferred silica-based glasses are undoped and doped binary or ternary silica-based materials having an annealing point less than about 1380°K, more preferably less than about 1350°K, and most preferably within the range of about 900°K to about 1325°K.
  • the annealing point is defined as the temperature at which the viscosity of the material is 10 13 ⁇ poise.
  • Undoped soft silica-based materials include, for example, commercial grade fused silica, such as Corning 7980 glass, which can have an annealing point in the range of about 1261 °K to about 1323°K.
  • the preferred dopants which may be used to soften silica include oxides of the elements boron, phosphorous, aluminum, and germanium, such as borate (B 2 O 3 ), phosphate (P 2 O 5 ), alumina (AI 2 O 3 ), and germania (GeO 2 ), respectively.
  • the borate content may comprise up to 20 wt.% or more borate.
  • the binary glass systems 9 wt.% B 2 O 3 -91 wt.% SiO 2 and 20 wt.% B 2 O 3 -80 wt.% SiO 2 may be used to practice the invention.
  • the annealing point of the 9 wt.% B 2 O 3 -91 wt.% SiO 2 composition is about 1073°K.
  • the annealing point of the 20 wt.% B 2 O 3 -80 wt.% SiO 2 composition is about 999°K.
  • the phosphate content may also comprise up to 20 wt.% or more phosphate.
  • the binary glass systems 10 wt.% P 2 O 5 -90 wt.% SiO 2 and 7 wt.% P 2 O 5 -93 wt.% SiO 2 may be used to practice the invention.
  • the annealing point of the 7 wt.% P 2 O 5 -93 wt.% SiO 2 composition is about 1231°K.
  • the alumina content may comprise up to 20 wt.% or more alumina.
  • the binary glass systems 10 wt.% AI 2 O 3 -90 wt.% SiO 2 may be used to practice the invention.
  • the germania content may comprise up to about 22 wt.% or more germania.
  • the binary glass systems 20 wt.% GeO 2 -80 wt.% SiO 2 and 22 wt.% GeO 2 -78 wt.% SiO 2 may be used to practice the invention.
  • the annealing point of the 20 wt.% GeO 2 -80 wt.% SiO 2 composition is about 1323°K while that of the 22 wt.% GeO 2 -78 wt.% SiO 2 composition is about 1311°K.
  • Hard silica-based materials are defined as doped or undoped silica-based materials having an annealing point higher than that of the 5 mol.% GeO 2 - 95 mol.% SiO 2 system, i.e., higher than about 1380°K.
  • hard silica-based materials include dry fused silica which has an annealing point of about 1425°K. As is generally known in the art, "dry" fused silica has virtually no residual hydroxyl groups, while commercial grade fused silica may have higher levels, for example, about 800 ppm hydroxyl groups.
  • the silica-based materials used in this invention are preferably made by a flame hydrolysis process.
  • silicon-containing gas molecules are reacted in a flame to form SiO 2 soot particles. These particles are deposited on the hot surface of a rotating body where they consolidate into a very viscous fluid which is later cooled to the glassy (solid) state.
  • glass making procedures of this type are known as vapor phase hydrolysis/oxidation processes or simply as flame hydrolysis processes.
  • the induced refractive index changes reported below in connection with the examples were determined by the beam spread method assuming a step index profile.
  • FIG. 5 A schematic of the experimental set-up for estimating the radiation-induced change in the refractive index in the waveguides made according to the invention by this method is shown in Fig. 5.
  • a spatial filter 20 After writing a waveguide 16 in sample 4, by using a spatial filter 20, collimating lens 19, beam splitter 17, telescope 18, and lens 5, light from a HeNe laser 21 was coupled into the waveguide 16 and the numerical aperture (NA) of the cone of light that emerged was measured. Since the length of the waveguides made in the example below was typically 1 cm, unguided light from the HeNe interfered with the light coupled out the waveguide. This interference resulted in an interference pattern of concentric rings in the far field as recorded by a digital camera 14 and personal computer 15. A recorded image of the interference pattern is shown in Fig. 6.
  • the radius at which the fringes died out, Rw n g ⁇ . was measured.
  • the NA of the waveguide was calculated from the relation
  • Pulses from a Ti: sapphire multi-pass amplifier which were 60-fs in duration and had pulse energies of approximately 1 ⁇ J were focused with a 10x (0.16 NA) microscope objective into fused-silica glass samples mounted on a computer controlled high-precision 3-D translation stage.
  • the fused-silica samples were translated through the focal point of the beam at a rate of 30 ⁇ m/s. Waveguide structures were created within the bulk material.
  • a 830 nm laser was used to deliver 40 fs pulses at a 1 kHz repetition rate.
  • the energy per pulse was from about 1 ⁇ J to about 5 ⁇ J.
  • the beam was focused into the glass below the surface with a lens with a numerical aperture of 0.16 in air.
  • the sample was moved under the beam at a rate of about 5 ⁇ m/s to about 100 ⁇ m/s.
  • the experimental conditions were kept constant for exposure to samples of fused silica and for 14 wt.% GeO 2 - 86 wt.% SiO 2 .
  • the beam was focused about 1 mm below the surface of the glass.
  • the diameter of the laser-affected region of the germania-silica sample was about twice that of the fused silica sample. From this result, we concluded that the germania-silica material was more sensitive to refractive index changes induced by ultra-fast laser exposure than fused silica.
  • Substrates of various glass compositions i.e., SiO 2 (Coming product 7980), 22 wt.% GeO 2 -78 wt.% SiO 2 and 9 wt.% B 2 O 3 -91 wt.% SiO 2l were exposed to focused laser radiation by the axial write method.
  • the laser wavelength was 830 nm.
  • the pulse duration was 40 fs.
  • the energy per pulse was 1.0 uJ.
  • the repetition rate was 1 kHz.
  • the scan speed was 20 ⁇ m/s.
  • the induced refractive index change at 633 nm was estimated from the far-field pattern of the waveguide produced.
  • the induced refractive index change results are tabulated below in Table 1.
  • the annealing point of each of these materials is also reported in Table 1.
  • a sample of 9 wt.% B 2 O 3 -91 wt.% Si ⁇ 2 glass was exposed to focused laser radiation by the axial write method.
  • the laser wavelength was 830 nm.
  • the pulse duration was 40 fs.
  • the energy per pulse was 1.0 ⁇ J.
  • the repetition rate was 1 Hz.
  • the scan speed was 20 ⁇ m/s.
  • a photomicrograph of the far field pattern of this sample is shown at Fig. 7.
  • the double lobed pattern is indicative of the propagation of a higher order mode.
  • the effective refractive index change of the borate sample must have been greater than that of the other two samples to support the additional mode.
  • Each of the glass compositions listed in Table 1 were exposed to focused laser radiation.
  • the laser wavelength was 830 nm.
  • the pulse duration was 40 femtoseconds.
  • the energy per pulse was 0.5 ⁇ J.
  • the scan speed was 10 ⁇ m/s.
  • the samples were photographed through a microscope at a magnification of 400x.
  • Optical waveguides were written in various bulk glasses using femtosecond laser irradiation.
  • the pulse repetition rate was 1 kHz.
  • the beam was focused with a 0.15 NA lens into the block of glass that was translated at linear speeds of 5 - 100 ⁇ m/s. Assuming a diffraction limited Gaussian beam, the estimated spot size of the focal point of the beam was 5 ⁇ m.
  • the glass was exposed to the beam by translating the block relative to the focal point in the axial direction, i.e., in the direction of the beam.
  • the nominal intensities used for the exposure therefore ranged from 0.05 - 1 x 10 15 W/cm 2 .
  • the induced refractive index changes (10 "3 ) are reported in Table 2.
  • Optical waveguides were written in fused silica using femtosecond laser irradiation.
  • the Ti-sapphire laser irradiated at 830 nm with a 150 fs pulse width.
  • the pulse energy was 5, 10, and 20 ⁇ J.
  • the pulse repetition rate was 1 kHz.
  • the beam was focused with a 0.1 NA lens.
  • the glass substrate was translated at linear speeds of 15, 50, and 500 ⁇ m/s.
  • the glass was exposed to the beam by translating the substrate relative to the focus in the "top-write" orientation, i.e., in a direction perpendicular to the beam.
  • the induced refractive index changes (10 "3 ) for Example 7 are reported in Table 3.
  • Table 3 Induced refractive index change (10 ) (Example 7)
  • Femtosecond laser pulses were produced by a Quantronix Odin multipass amplifier which was seeded with a mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator. The operating wavelength was 830 nm. The system produced 60-fs pulses at a 1 kHz repetition rate. The laser beam was focused into a sample of fused silica using a 10x (0.16 NA) single aspheric-lens microscope objective. Photonic structures were written by translating the sample with respect to the focal region using computer controlled three- dimensional stages which had a resolution of 200 nm. By using this objective having this relatively long working-distance, waveguides as long as 2 cm parallel to the beam were written.
  • Example 8 The experimental conditions of Example 8 were repeated, but the sample was made of the softer glass composition 9 wt.% B 2 O 3 - 91 wt.% SiO 2 rather than fused silica.
  • the values for the induced refractive index change (10 "3 ) of the boron-doped silica material are reported in Table 5.
  • the same write conditions including pulse energy and scan speed produced a larger induced refractive index increase in the boron-doped silica glass than in the fused silica glass. Accordingly, the exposure required to produce the same degree of index change is significantly less for the boron-doped silica material then for the fused-silica material.
  • the increased sensitivity of the boron-doped glass compared to the fused silica glass is illustrated also by comparing the exposure required to produce the characteristic double-lobed far-field pattern as shown in Fig. 6. This pattern appears to correspond to the onset of a second mode.
  • Example 10 describes the fabrication and performance of a Y-coupler device.
  • a Y-coupler was written in a bulk sample of pure fused silica at the conditions of Example 1.
  • a photograph of the structure shows the guiding of light from an argon laser, as shown in Fig. 10.
  • the vertical dimension of the photograph is magnified with respect to the horizontal dimension for clarity.
  • the splitting angle was measured as approximately 0.5°. It was observed that approximately half of the 514.5 nm light was coupled into each of the two branches of the coupler.
  • the present invention can also be used to make a wide variety of other optical devices, such as the star coupler having central guide 22 surrounded by a plurality of peripheral guides 23, as shown in Fig. 9 (a).
  • the invention can also be used to make a passive Mach-Zehnder coupler including a pair of Mach-Zehnder guides 26, as shown in Fig. 9(b).
  • the present invention can also be used to make Bragg or the type diffraction gratings in bulk glass, as shown in Fig. 10.
  • Waveguide 16 leads to grating lines 25. Line spacings of 0.5 ⁇ m are possible using this invention.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optical Integrated Circuits (AREA)
  • Lasers (AREA)
  • Re-Forming, After-Treatment, Cutting And Transporting Of Glass Products (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne des procédés d'écriture d'une structure de guidage de lumière dans un substrat en verre en vrac. Ce substrat est de préférence obtenu à partir d'une matière molle à base de silice présentant une température de recuit inférieure à environ 1380 °K. Un faisceau laser à impulsions est focalisé dans le substrat tandis que le foyer est déplacé par rapport au substrat le long d'un trajet de balayage à une vitesse de balayage efficace pour induire une augmentation de l'indice de réfraction de la matière le long du trajet. La matière ne subit pratiquement aucun dommage physique induit par le laser le long du trajet de balayage. Différents dispositifs optiques peut être obtenus grâce à ce procédé.
EP00950775A 1999-07-29 2000-07-28 Ecriture directe de dispositifs optiques en verre a base de silice faisant appel des lasers a impulsion femtoseconde Withdrawn EP1204977A4 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

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US14627499P 1999-07-29 1999-07-29
US146274P 1999-07-29
PCT/US2000/020446 WO2001009899A1 (fr) 1999-07-29 2000-07-28 Ecriture directe de dispositifs optiques en verre a base de silice faisant appel des lasers a impulsion femtoseconde

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EP1204977A1 EP1204977A1 (fr) 2002-05-15
EP1204977A4 true EP1204977A4 (fr) 2003-08-13

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EP (1) EP1204977A4 (fr)
JP (1) JP2003506731A (fr)
KR (1) KR20020038707A (fr)
CN (1) CN1365500A (fr)
AU (1) AU6382700A (fr)
BR (1) BR0012797A (fr)
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WO (1) WO2001009899A1 (fr)

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US6796148B1 (en) 1999-09-30 2004-09-28 Corning Incorporated Deep UV laser internally induced densification in silica glasses
JP3531738B2 (ja) * 2000-02-22 2004-05-31 日本電気株式会社 屈折率の修正方法、屈折率の修正装置、及び光導波路デバイス
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JP4514999B2 (ja) * 2001-07-27 2010-07-28 株式会社フジクラ 光合分波器及び光合分波器の製造方法
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