Ion-Implanted Waveguides in a Nd³⁺-Doped Silicate Glass

Monomode enhanced-index Nd³⁺-doped silicate glass waveguides fabricated by ion implantation are reported. The Nd³⁺-doped silicate glass was implanted by 3.0 MeV B⁺ ions, 3.0 MeV O⁺ ions and 4.5 MeV Ni²⁺ ions, respectively. A prism-coupling method was carried out to measure dark modes in the Nd³⁺-doped silicate glass using a model 2010 prism coupler. The moving fibre method was applied to measure the waveguide propagation loss. After a moderate annealing, the 3.0-MeV B⁺-ion implanted waveguide loss is about 3.54 dB/cm; the 3.0-MeV O⁺-ion implanted waveguide loss is about 5.36 dB/cm; and the 4.5-MeV the Ni²⁺-implanted waveguide loss is about 7.55 dB/cm. The results show that with the increasing ion mass, the loss in implanted waveguide is increased.