Property comparison of two-dimensional fused silica waveguides based on pulse powers and waveguide sizes

Abstract 2D waveguides play an important role in integrated optics. In this work, 2D waveguides were prepared in the fused silica by the combination of the oxygen ion implantation and the femtosecond laser ablation. The energy of the implantation was 5 MeV, while the dose was 5 × 10 14 ions cm −2 . The femtosecond laser with two pulse powers of 4.5 and 5.5 mW was used to ablate the 2D structures with the widths of 15, 20, 25 and 30 μm. The cross-section morphologies and the near-field light intensity distributions of the waveguides at the wavelength of 532 nm were captured by an optical microscope and an end-facing coupling equipment, respectively. The propagation losses were ∼2.1 and 1.9 dB cm −1 for the 15 μm-thick waveguide at the pulse power of 4.5 mW and the 30 μm-thick waveguide at the pulse power of 5.5 mW, respectively. The results not only revealed the relationship between the ion energy and the projected range, but also clarified the effects of waveguide size and laser pulse power on the near-field light intensity distribution of optical waveguides, providing a basis for the manufacture of integrated optical components.