Thick hybrid silica-zirconia sol-gel film for single-step fabrication of channel waveguide

Miao He; Jing Bu; Xiaocong Yuan

doi:10.1117/12.643640

24 February 2006 Thick hybrid silica-zirconia sol-gel film for single-step fabrication of channel waveguide

Miao He, Jing Bu, Xiaocong Yuan

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6123, Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies X; 61230H (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.643640
Event: Integrated Optoelectronic Devices 2006, 2006, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

An improved synthesis of inorganic-organic hybrid silica-zirconia sol-gel material has been developed, and it has controllable refractive index and can form ten-micron-thick film in a single spin coating process. The novel synthesis was realized by uniform hydrolysis and subsequent copolymerization of [3-(methacryloxy) propyl] trimethoxysilane and zirconium propoxide. The optical properties of the prepared sol-gel material was studied and characterized by a series of experiments. Compared with the sol-gel films reported before, the sol-gel film had good internal homogeneity and surface uniformity due to single layer structure. We employed the hybrid silica-zirconia sol-gel film in the singlestep fabrication of a dielectric channel waveguide on a quartz substrate. In the fabrication process, the sol-gel film was exposed to UV through a binary mask, and the exposed zone within the film formed a channel waveguide core because of its refractive index increase. The channel waveguide core was then covered again with a layer of the same kind of sol-gel film, and the unexposed zone within the sol-gel film, along with the new cover layer, formed the cladding of final dielectric channel waveguide. The novel sol synthesis enabled a precise control of the geometrical and optical parameters of the channel waveguide. In the 1.55 μm telecommunication window, the fundamental modes TE₀₀ and TM₀₀ in the channel waveguide had acceptable transmission losses of 1.20 ± 0.06 dB / cm and 1.79 ± 0.06 dB / cm, respectively.

Citation Download Citation

Miao He, Jing Bu, and Xiaocong Yuan "Thick hybrid silica-zirconia sol-gel film for single-step fabrication of channel waveguide", Proc. SPIE 6123, Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies X, 61230H (24 February 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.643640

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