Various nonlinear optical phenomena can be observed in silica based glasses when subjected to short light pulses with high power densities. However silica based channel waveguides can easily suffer from optical damage at relatively low average powers, as it has already been observed in silica based optical fibers. In order to prevent catastrophic failure of these waveguides, it is important to correlate their glass composition and guiding properties to the optical power density at which such a failure occurs. We report experimental investigation on the optical damage threshold of P₂O₅-doped and GeO₂-P₂O₅-doped high- silica content channel waveguides, fabricated by flame hydrolysis deposition on Si substrate. Waveguides are subjected to high peak power pulses from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser, operating at a wavelength of 1.064 micrometers . The influence of silica dopants on the damage threshold levels has been investigated by comparisons of experimental results on the two silica systems considered. The influence on the damage threshold level of other parameters, such as Q-switch frequency and exposure time, has also been investigated in order to assess the possibility of cumulative effects in the waveguides examined.

Date Published: 6 April 1993
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 1794, Integrated Optical Circuits II, (6 April 1993); doi: 10.1117/12.141882

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1794:
Integrated Optical Circuits II
Ka-Kha Wong, Editor(s)