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Ultrafast Pulsed Laser Deposition of Chalcogenide Glass Films for Low-loss Optical Waveguides

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

B. Luther-Davies ,
V. Z. Kolev ,
M. J. Lederer ,
R. Yinlan ,
M. Samoc ,
R. A. Jarvis ,
A. V. Rode ,
J. Giesekus ,
K.-M. Du  and
M. Duering
B. Luther-Davies
Affiliation:
Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, theAustralian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
V. Z. Kolev
Affiliation:
Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, theAustralian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
M. J. Lederer
Affiliation:
Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, theAustralian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
R. Yinlan
Affiliation:
Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, theAustralian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
M. Samoc
Affiliation:
Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, theAustralian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
R. A. Jarvis
Affiliation:
Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, theAustralian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
A. V. Rode
Affiliation:
Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, theAustralian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
J. Giesekus
Affiliation:
Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technique, Steinbachstr. 15, D-52074 Aachen, Germany
K.-M. Du
Affiliation:
Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technique, Steinbachstr. 15, D-52074 Aachen, Germany
M. Duering
Affiliation:
Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technique, Steinbachstr. 15, D-52074 Aachen, Germany
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Abstract

Ultra-fast pulsed laser deposition using high-repetition-rate short-pulse lasers has been shown to provide high optical quality, super smooth thin films free of scattering centres. The optimized process conditions require short ps or sub-ps pulses with repetition rate in the range 1-100 MHz, depending on the target material. Ultra-fast pulsed laser deposition was used to successfully deposit atomically-smooth, 5micron thick As2S3 films. The as-deposited films were photosensitive at wavelengths close to the band edge (≈520 nm) and waveguides could be directly patterned into them by photo-darkening using an Argon ion or frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser. The linear and nonlinear optical properties of the films were measured as well as the photosensitivity of the material. The optical losses in photo-darkened waveguides were <0.2 dB/cm at wavelengths beyond 1200nm and <0.1 dB/cm in as-deposited films. The third order nonlinearity, n2,As2S3, was measured using both four-wave mixing and the z-scan technique and varied with wavelength from 100 to 200 times fused silica (n2,Silica ≈3×10-16 cm2/W) between 1500nm and 1100nm with low nonlinear absorption.

Encouraged by the Ultrafast laser deposition results, we have built a new specialized modelocked picosecond laser system for deposition of optical films and for laser formation of nanoclusters. The newly developed “state of the art” powerful Nd:YVO laser can operate over a wide range of wavelengths, intensities, and repetition rates in MHz range. A brief description of the 50W laser installation is presented.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 780: Symposium Y – Advanced Optical Processing of Materials , 2003 , Y4.1
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

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References

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