Abstract

New processing and packaging techniques are required to meet demand for the miniaturization and integration of photonic devices into highly functional optica) circuits. Laser microfabrication is one promising approach for direct, rapid, and cost-effective printing of simple optical components or complete photonic circuits inside glass materials. Here, we compare the writing of buried waveguide structures with two extreme approaches—ultrafast (UF) and deep-ultraviolet (UV) F₂ lasers-----that induce many-photon and single-photon physics respectively, when interacting with transparent materials. Both lasers drive strong photosensitivity responses in many glasses to generated high-refractive index- changes in small focal volumes buried beneath the glass surface. Low-loss waveguides having single-mode or multi-mode properties were generated by a side writing technique.

© 2002 Optical Society of America