TY - GEN

T1 - Laser-based, on-chip fabrication of glass-based core-cladding waveguides

AU - Kranert, Fabian

AU - Fawaz, Hussein

AU - Hinkelmann, Moritz

AU - Neumann, Jörg

AU - Kracht, Dietmar

N1 - Funding Information: The experiments were founded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy within the Cluster of Excellence PhoenixD (EXC 2122, Project ID 390833453).

PY - 2023/3/17

Y1 - 2023/3/17

N2 - Photonic integrated circuits (PIC) have been established for miniaturized, on-chip optical systems. Current approaches for producing PICs mostly rely on semiconductor processing technologies, which are complex and cost-intensive. A promising alternative with the potential to revolutionize PIC fabrication is additive manufacturing (AM), which offers the opportunity to develop tailored and customized waveguide designs for functionalities needed in fast-evolving modern applications like the Internet of Things. Here, an AM technology called laser glass deposition (LGD) is presented for the production of on-chip core-cladding waveguides based on fused silica. Commercially available glass fibers with a diameter of 125 µm are fused onto a quartz glass substrate using a CO2-laser in a 2.5D-printing process. Test series are performed to determine the process window to reach a stable connection between fiber and substrate while maintaining the fiber´s optical functionality. To enable efficient light coupling into the waveguide, the fiber end facets are laser cleaved after the deposition within the same process environment. Again, parameter studies are performed to reach a high surface quality. Both the waveguides and the cleaved surfaces are characterized using different imaging techniques. In addition, the optical properties of the generated waveguides are analyzed.

AB - Photonic integrated circuits (PIC) have been established for miniaturized, on-chip optical systems. Current approaches for producing PICs mostly rely on semiconductor processing technologies, which are complex and cost-intensive. A promising alternative with the potential to revolutionize PIC fabrication is additive manufacturing (AM), which offers the opportunity to develop tailored and customized waveguide designs for functionalities needed in fast-evolving modern applications like the Internet of Things. Here, an AM technology called laser glass deposition (LGD) is presented for the production of on-chip core-cladding waveguides based on fused silica. Commercially available glass fibers with a diameter of 125 µm are fused onto a quartz glass substrate using a CO2-laser in a 2.5D-printing process. Test series are performed to determine the process window to reach a stable connection between fiber and substrate while maintaining the fiber´s optical functionality. To enable efficient light coupling into the waveguide, the fiber end facets are laser cleaved after the deposition within the same process environment. Again, parameter studies are performed to reach a high surface quality. Both the waveguides and the cleaved surfaces are characterized using different imaging techniques. In addition, the optical properties of the generated waveguides are analyzed.

KW - additive manufacturing

KW - Laser glass deposition

KW - photonic integrated circuits

KW - waveguides

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85159773403&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1117/12.2649880

DO - 10.1117/12.2649880

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:85159773403

T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

BT - Integrated Optics

A2 - Garcia-Blanco, Sonia M.

A2 - Cheben, Pavel

PB - SPIE

T2 - Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXVII 2023

Y2 - 30 January 2023 through 2 February 2023

ER -