Efficient Optical Waveguiding Enabled by Focused Proton Beam Writing in Nd:YCOB Crystal
Xingjuan Zhao,
Yicun Yao,
Fengqin Liu,
Jing Guan,
Qingming Lu,
Yuechen Jia
Affiliations
Xingjuan Zhao
School of Science, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China
Yicun Yao
Key Laboratory of Optical Communication Science and Technology of Shandong Province, School of Physical Science and Information Technology, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252059, China
Fengqin Liu
State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, School of Physics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
Jing Guan
State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, School of Physics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
Qingming Lu
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
Yuechen Jia
State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, School of Physics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
We report on microfabrication and optical characterization of buried channel waveguides defined in Nd:YCOB crystal by focused proton beam writing (PBW). In the fabrication process, the focused proton beam irradiation creates a local material modification region with geometrically symmetric positive index changes at the end of the proton trajectory, where efficient optical waveguiding can be locally supported within a fiber-like channel structure. The impact of the proton fluence (with different values ranging from 1015 to 1016 cm−2) on the optical waveguiding performance is well studied. The experimental results of the optical waveguide properties are in fairly good agreement with the simulation results.
