An ion exchange technology represents the fast and effective process of the fabrication of low-loss optical waveguides in glass substrates at reasonable costs. Employing this technique, we successfully prepared Ag⁺, K⁺, Cu⁺, Cu²⁺, and Li⁺ planar and channel optical waveguides. Required ions diffused into substrates from a bath of molten nitrates, chlorides, and iodides replacing Na⁺ ions present in glass substrates. For each waveguide type we developed a chemically durable sodium-aluminosilicate glass of optimized chemical composition that stabilized the cations and enabled efficient and well controlled ion exchange resulting in low-loss waveguides. For waveguide amplifiers we also formulated a series of sodium-zincaluminosilicate glasses doped mainly with Er³⁺ and Yb³⁺ ions. The optical properties of the prepared waveguides were characterized using the coupling prism or the dark mode spectroscopy in combination with the inverse WKB method. We determined the number of guided modes, depth of a waveguiding region, refractive index depth profiles, and refractive index increment. Employing the scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDAX), ion beam methods (PIXE and RBS), and neutron depth profiling (NDP), we analyzed waveguide’s concentration profiles. To optimize glass compositions and the ion exchange process, we developed composition-property models based on the first order expansion y = å a_ix_i where y represents the measured glass property, x_i represents the molar fraction of the i-th glass component, and a_i is the i-th glass component effect representing a partial molar quantity. Using these models we quantified effects of glass components. We found that Zn²⁺ and Mg²⁺ facilitated the ion exchange. On the other hand Ca²⁺, Er³⁺, and Yb³⁺ significantly decreased the ion exchange process rate. We interpreted the calculated components effects employing the optical basicity and ligand field theories.

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1. Effect of silicate glass composition on properties of ion-exchanged optical waveguides
2. Ion-exchanged optical waveguides fabricated in novel Er³⁺ and Er³⁺/Yb³⁺-doped silicate glasses: The relationships between glass composition, basicity and waveguide properties