Femtosecond laser inscription or writing has been recognized as a powerful technique to engineer various materials toward a number of applications. By efficient modification of refractive indices of dielectric crystals, optical waveguides with diverse configurations have been produced by femtosecond laser writing. The waveguiding properties depend not only on the parameters of the laser writing but also on the nature of the crystals. The mode profile tailoring and polarization engineering are realizable by selecting appropriate fabrication conditions. In addition, regardless of the complexity of crystal refractive index changes induced by ultrafast pulses, several three-dimensional geometries have been designed and implemented that are useful for the fabrication of laser-written photonic chips. Some intriguing devices, e.g., waveguide lasers, wavelength converters, and quantum memories, have been made, exhibiting potential for applications in various areas. Our work gives a concise review of the femtosecond laser-inscribed waveguides in dielectric crystals and focuses on the recent advances of this research area, including the fundamentals, fabrication, and selected photonic applications.
Femtosecond laser writing (FLW) has been recognized as a powerful technique to engineer various materials to realize a number of applications. Dielectric crystals with periodically lattice structures play significant roles for optical and photonic applications. By efficient modification of refractive indices of the dielectrics, optical waveguides with diverse configurations have been produced by FLW. In addition to the well-known parameters of the laser writing system, e.g., pulse energy, scanning speed, and repetition rate, it has also been found that the modification of refractive index strongly depends on the symmetry of the specific crystals, i.e., the crystal system of the lattices. The laser-induced track morphology engineering is crucial to not only tailor the properties of waveguides but also for applications in novel photonic device fabrication. The mode modulation has been therefore implemented by selecting appropriate fabrication conditions according to crystals with different lattice symmetries. Regardless of the complexity of crystal refractive index changes induced by ultrafast pulses, several three-dimensional (3D) geometries have been designed and implemented, which are useful for 3D fabrication of laser written photonic chips. This work gives an overview of the recent advances on the laser-written crystalline waveguides, indicating attractive potential applications in various areas of photonics.
We demonstrate the first stable mode-locking from an Er3+ doped fluoride fibre laser cavity using various novel two-dimensional saturable absorber materials such as PtSe2 and MXene operating near 2.8 μm wavelength to the best of our knowledge. The linear cavity includes a high reflective chirped fibre Bragg grating to provide wavelength stability. The observed mode-locked pulse train has a 30 MHz repetition rate and an average power of 223 mW. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using the novel two-dimensional nanomaterials such as PtSe2 and MXene into the fibre laser cavity for the application in mid-infrared wavelength regime.
We report on the first experimental study of the layer-to-layer compression and enhanced optical properties of few-layer graphene nanosheet by applying ion irradiation. The deformation of graphene layers is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. It is observed that after the irradiation of energetic ion beams, the space between separate graphene layers is reduced due to layer-to-layer compression, resulting in tighter contact of the graphene sheet with the surface of the substrate. This processing enables enhanced interaction of the graphene with the evanescent-field wave near the surface, which induces reinforced polarization-dependent light absorption of the graphene. Utilizing the ion-bombarded graphene nanosheets as saturable absorbers, we have realized efficient Q-switched waveguide lasing with enhanced performance through the interaction of the graphene and evanescent field.
We report on dual-line waveguides fabricated by direct femtosecond laser writing in Cu:KNSBN crystal. Two different sizes have been designed with the separation between lines of 20 and 30 μm, respectively. The detailed structure of the dual-line waveguide has been imaged by means of micro-Raman analysis, indicating that the microstructure of the Cu:KNSBN crystal has no significant change after direct femtosecond laser writing. The dual-line waveguides support single-mode guidance along both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarization at the wavelengths of 632.8 and 1064 nm, and show insensitivity to polarization of light. We suggest the potential application of the laser-written Cu:KNSBN waveguides as new integrated optical devices.
The planar waveguide in Nd:YAG crystal was produced by the 1.4 GeV Kr ion irradiation at ultra-low fluence of 1.2×109 ions/cm2. The propagation loss is measured to be ~2.1 dB/cm at wavelength of 632.8 nm by using the backreflection method. Under optical pumping of 808 nm light continuous wave lasers at 1065 nm have been realized. The maximum output power is 49.3 mW and the slope efficiency is 45.6%.
Through a novel micro-processing mechanism in birefringent crystals proposed in this work, a coupler containing twin depressed cladding waveguides have been achieved in Nd:GdVO4 laser crystals. By employing single-scan of femtosecond laser writing, twin tracks with different depths separated by a distance of 70μm were produced due to the birefringence of Nd:GdVO4 crystal. The adjacent 30μm-diameter cladding waveguides, which consist of a 2×2 coupler with a separation of 70μm in a 4-mm-long crystal sample, were inscribed simultaneously. The ratio of output power division from both waveguides was approximately 10.5:1 at 633nm. Continuous-wave lasing was realized in the waveguide coupler platform under the direct optical pump at 808nm. This work indicates a great potential for femtosecond laser inscribed symmetry structures such as waveguide couplers in birefringent crystals based on the proposed micro-processing mechanism.
The dielectric crystals are important media for diverse optical applications due to their astonishing properties. Miniature photonic devices based on waveguiding structures have been incorporated in broad range of photonic devices that benefit from the excellent properties of crystals. We summarize our recent progress of research on the design and implementation of three-dimensional (3D) waveguiding structures in dielectric crystals by femtosecond laser inscription. With the engineering of the localized material modifications induced by femtosecond laser pulses, structures with on-demand geometries could be manufactured in dielectric crystals. The 3D photonic devices are designed and produced and the functions based on these 3D devices for beam splitting and waveguiding lasing are realized.
We report on Y-branch superficial depressed-cladding waveguides fabricated by femtosecond laser writing of MgO:LiTaO3 crystal. The cladding waveguides with a rectangular cross-section are single mode for both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarization, and show good transmission properties at a telecommunication wavelength of 1.55 μm. Divergence angles as large as 2.6 deg are successfully achieved in the splitters with nearly equalized splitting ratios (1:1). The fabricated shallow structures are excellent photonic elements for optoelectronic applications.
We report on the fabrication of channel waveguides in bismuth germanate (BGO) crystal using focused ion-beam writing. 1 and 2 MeV He+ ions with different fluences are utilized to directly write waveguides in BGO crystal. The guiding properties of the BGO waveguides are explored at the wavelengths of 632.8 nm, 1.31 μm and 1.55 μm, showing that the channel waveguides support light guidance from visible to telecommunication bands along both transverse-electric and transverse-magnetic polarizations.
We report on the guided-wave second-harmonic generation in a KTiOPO4 nonlinear optical waveguide fabricated by a 17 MeV O5+ ion irradiation at a fluence of 1.5×1015 ions/cm2. The waveguide guides light along both TE and TM polarizations, which is suitable for phase-matching frequency doubling. Second harmonics of green light at a wavelength of 532 nm have been generated through the KTiOPO4 waveguide platform under an optical pump of fundamental wave at 1064 nm in both continuous-wave and pulsed regimes, reaching optical conversion efficiencies of 5.36%/W and 11.5%, respectively. The propagation losses have been determined to be ∼3.1 and ∼5.7 dB/cm for the TE and TM polarizations at a wavelength of 632.8 nm, respectively.
We report on the channel waveguide lasers at 1085 nm in femtosecond laser written Type II waveguides in an Nd:MgO:LiNbO3 crystal. The waveguide was constructed in a typical dual-line approach. In the geometry, we found that four vicinal regions of the track pair could guide light propagation. In addition, these guiding cores support polarization-dependent-guided modes. The propagation losses of the waveguides were measured to be as low as 1 dB/cm. Under an optical pump at 808 nm, the continuous-wave waveguide lasing at 1085 nm was generated, reaching a slope efficiency of 27% and maximum output power of 8 mW. The lasing threshold was 71 mW. Our results show that with the femtosecond laser written Nd:MgO:LiNbO3 waveguide as the miniature light source, it was possible to construct all-LiNbO3-based integrated devices for diverse photonic applications.
We report on waveguide lasers at 1064.5 nm in femtosecond laser-written double-cladding waveguides in Nd:GdVO4 crystals. The cladding waveguides guide both transverse electric (TE)- and transverse magnetic (TM)-polarized modes with considerably symmetric single-modal profiles and show good transmission properties (propagation loss as low as 1.0 dB/cm). The detailed structure of the single and double claddings has been imaged by means of μ-Raman analysis, and the observed slight fabrication asymmetries with respect to an ideal circular cladding are in well agreement with the observed differences in TE/TM propagation losses. Importantly, the Raman imaging shows the complete absence of lattice defect at the laser active volume. Under the optical pumping at 808 nm, a maximum output power up to 0.43 W of the continuous wave waveguide laser with a slope efficiency of 52.3% has been achieved in the double-cladding waveguide, which is 21.6% and 23% higher than that from a single-inner cladding waveguide. Furthermore, the maximum output power of the waveguide laser is 72% higher than that of the double-line waveguide due to the double-cladding design.
We report on waveguide lasers at 1064.5 nm in femtosecond laser written double cladding waveguides in Nd:GdVO4 crystals. The core waveguide guides both TE and TM polarized modes with considerably symmetric single modal profiles, and show good transmission property (propagation loss as low as 1.0 dB/cm). Under the optical pumping at 808 nm, maximum output power up to 0.43 W of the continuous wave waveguide laser with a slope efficiency of 52.3% have been achieved, which is 21.6% and 23% higher than those of the laser generated from single depressed cladding waveguide, respectively. Furthermore, the maximum output power of the waveguide laser is 72% higher than that of the double-line waveguide.
The features of linear and nonlinear propagation of light beams in one-dimensional photorefractive photonic superlattices
in bulk lithium niobate and in planar waveguides on this material are experimentally studied. The superlattices are
optically induced in bulk samples and in planar waveguides using two-beam holographic recording method and optical
projection scheme with coherent and incoherent light sources.
Formation of dark spatial optical solitons in planar waveguides produced by implantation of light ions into Fe- or Cudoped
X cut lithium niobate wafers is experimentally studied. The implantation both of protons and O3+-ions results in
the excellent waveguide layers with their thickness about 3 microns and optical losses less than 1 dB/cm. The soliton
states at light wavelengths of 532 nm and 633 nm are developed due to the self-defocusing photorefractive-photovoltaic
nonlinearity of lithium niobate. Extraordinarily polarized light beams are used in experiments to form dark solitons and
to probe the soliton-induced waveguide channels. Steady-state dark photovoltaic spatial solitons have been realized in
both, H+- implanted and O3+ - implanted planar waveguides at optical powers from 10 to 100 microwatts. The storage
time of soliton-induced channel waveguides makes up at least some hours without special illumination of a planar
waveguide and they may be erased within some seconds in a case of their permanent readout with stronger light beams.
The possibility to form more complicated channel waveguide structures in regimes of dark spatial solitons is also
demonstrated.
We experimentally investigate effects of linear and nonlinear propagation of light beams within one-dimensional
photonic superlattices fabricated in bulk photorefractive lithium niobate samples and in photorefractive planar
waveguides by optical induction technique. In other case similar superlattices are formed by optical modulation of
periodic waveguide arrays produced in lithium niobate by thermal diffusion of titanium and iron. The linear localization
of light power is experimentally observed in superlattices of all kinds and proved using numerical simulations of light
propagation within such structures. The features of nonlinear behavior of light at its propagation in superlattices is also
experimentally demonstrated in a configuration of their single-channel excitation.
A theoretical model which can describe the dynamics of spatial bright discrete solitons in photovoltaic photorefractive media is suggested. Four different types of staggered solitons, symmetric odd and even, twisted and antisymmetric odd one are observed numerically and their behavior is investigated with respect to small transverse phase offsets. A first experimental observation of steering of such symmetric odd staggered solitons in lithium niobate waveguide arrays is presented.
We experimentally investigate propagation of light beams of visible range within waveguide arrays of one-dimensional photorefractive waveguides formed in the Y cut lithium niobate wafers. We demonstrate formation of bright staggered discrete spatial solitons within such an array at simulataneous π out fo phase excitation of two waveguide channels by cw light beam with wavelength of 514,4 nm and total power of 200 μW.
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