Planar ion-exchanged (IE) optical waveguides are important parts of photonics devices utilized for harnessing and distribution of optical radiation. Silicate glasses are very suitable material for the fabrication of the sought waveguides due to their good compatibility with commonly used optical fibres as well as due to flexibility of their composition. Knowledge of the relations between composition of the glass matrix and properties of the resulting IE waveguides would be a great help in tailoring the waveguides properties according to the desired applications.

Our research is focused on study and description of the relations between content of bivalent glass modifiers (as Ca2+, Mg2+ and Zn2+ and their mixtures) on refractive index (n) depth profiles shapes, refractive index increments, depths of the in-diffused optical layers of the waveguides fabricated by the of silver -sodium or potassium-sodium ion exchanges. The relations will be illustrated on specially designed dysprosium containing glasses that will find their potential usability in 1300 nm operating photonics devices. The results revealed very clearly expressed correlations between the content of the highly ionic Ca2+ that made the depths as well as n increments smaller, while the more covalent Mg2+ and Zn2+ increased both the depths of the optical layers and the refractive index increments.

Models of the processes involved will be also presented.

Acknowledgement

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1. Chemical Composition Effects On An Ion Exchange Process In Glass
2. Ion-exchanged optical waveguides fabricated in novel Er³⁺ and Er³⁺/Yb³⁺-doped silicate glasses: The relationships between glass composition, basicity and waveguide properties