Silicon substrate is very important for integrated opto-electronic devices applications; because it is widely used the ULSI industries and allowing technically matured processing. However, the large refractive index of Si does not allow for an optical waveguide structure on it by direct growth. Nd:KGW waveguide laser is also a very promising device, which has not only a high stimulated emission cross-section as the laser crystal, but also a high 3rd nonlinear susceptibility. Here we will present our recent results of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) of Nd:KGW thin films on (100) Si substrate by introducing (100) CeO₂ buffer layer. The waveguide structure is achieved by the lower refractive index of CeO₂. It is well known that films containing alkali metal fabricated with single crystal targets have lower alkali metal concentrations than the stoichiometric target. One solution is the use of K-rich ceramic targets instead to prevent lack of the K during deposition. In this paper, we demonstrate the K compensation and high quality films growth from the viewpoints of crystallinity and optical properties by use of K-rich target. Moreover, we will investigate the required thickness of CeO₂ buffer layer and prove the validity of results using a numerical analysis.

Date Published: 20 September 2004
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 5448, High-Power Laser Ablation V, (20 September 2004); doi: 10.1117/12.546928

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5448:
High-Power Laser Ablation V
Claude R. Phipps, Editor(s)