Stress-induced buried waveguides in the 0.8CaSiO3–0.2Ca3(PO4)2 eutectic glass doped with Nd3+ ions

Abstract

In this work the fabrication of buried optical waveguides by femtosecond laser inscription in the 0.8CaSiO3–0.2Ca3(PO4)2 eutectic glass doped with Nd3+ ions is reported. The glass samples were prepared by melting the eutectic powder mixture in a Pt–10 wt.% Rh crucible at 1600 °C and pouring it in a preheated brass mould. Afterwards, the glass was annealed to release the inner stresses. Buried waveguides were fabricated by focusing beneath the surface a pulsed Ti:sapphire laser with a pulsewidth of 120 fs working at 1 kHz. Two adjacent parallel tracks were written to define a region where an increase in the refractive index occurs. The effects produced by the variation of the laser pulse energy as well as the lateral separation between tracks, scanning speed and focusing distance were studied. After the laser processing, the near-field intensity distribution at 633 nm of the waveguide's modes was studied demonstrating the confinement of both, the TE as the TM polarizations. In order to diminish the losses induced by colour centres absorption, heat treatments were carried out in the samples. The waveguide's modes were compared with respect to the samples without heat treatments. The spectroscopic properties of the neodymium ions have been characterized to evaluate in what extent their optical properties could be modified by the waveguide fabrication process and to elucidate the potential application of such waveguides as integrated laser sources.