Planar optical waveguides were fabricated using an electric field-assisted potassium ion-exchange in soda-lime glass substrates. Mode index measurements were made for the purpose of establishing formulas for the effective diffusion constant guide depth and refractive index change given the electric field the diffusion temperature and the time. The index profile could be accurately modeled by a modified Fermi function with significant improvement over the step-index model. The potassium ion concentration profile was determined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) technique which is then correlated to the numerical simulation of the ion-exchange fabrication process.

Date Published: 1 February 1991
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 1374, Integrated Optics and Optoelectronics II, (1 February 1991); doi: 10.1117/12.24950

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1374:
Integrated Optics and Optoelectronics II
Ka Kha Wong, Editor(s)