Ion exchange processes for fabrication of integrated optical waveguide structures into glass substrates: Dissertation

Ion exchange processes for fabrication of optical waveguide structures into glass substrates were studied.The fabrication of multimode waveguides by an Ag~--Na~ exchange with Ag thin film ion sources was analyzed in detail both theoretically and experimentally.The analysis increased considerably the understanding and the controllability of the process.The process was applied to the fabrication of several multimode components.Using Ag thin film ion sources channel waveguides were fabricated also directly into the integrated circuit lithography mask plates, which were patterned with high accuracy by the mask manufacturer.The method is especially promising for single mode applications, where the accuracy of the patterning is of great importance.For single mode applications an ionic masking method, which utilizes molten salt ion sources, was also studied.The method was applied to the fabrication of narrow channel waveguides and to the control of birefringence in waveguides.