Waveguides consisting of single-crystal lithium niobate thin film and oxidized titanium stripe

• Published in: Optics express Vol. 23; no. 19; pp. 24212 - 24219
• Main Authors: Li, Shuang, Cai, Lutong, Wang, Yiwen, Jiang, Yunpeng, Hu, Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 21-09-2015
• ISSN: 1094-4087; 1094-4087
• DOI: 10.1364/oe.23.024212

Strip-loaded waveguides were fabricated by the direct oxidation of a titanium film based on the single-crystal lithium niobate. The method avoided the surface roughness problems that are normally introduced during dry etching of waveguide sidewalls. Propagation modes of the composite strip waveguide were analyzed by a full-vectorial finite difference method. The minimum dimensions of the propagation modes were calculated to be 0.7 μm(2) and 1.1 μm(2) for quasi-TM mode and quasi-TE mode at 1550 nm when the thickness of the LN layer and TiO(2) strip was 660 nm and 95 nm, respectively. The optical intensity was as high as 93% and was well confined in the LN layer for quasi-TM polarization. In this experiment, the propagation losses for the composite strip waveguide with 6 μm wide TiO(2) were 14 dB/cm for quasi-TM mode and 5.8 dB/cm for quasi-TE mode, respectively. The compact hybrid structures have the potential to be utilized for compact photonic integrated devices.