Design and performance of fs-laser writable glasses via ion-redistribution using different migrating ions

Abstract

Although femtosecond laser induced ion-redistribution (FLIR) processes in glass have been observed in the past (see the review in Ref. [1]), only recently FLIR has been shown to enable producing efficient photonics devices, like waveguides [2,3], optical amplifiers, and lasers [4]. These works suggest that by adding a small amount of a glass modifier acting as a refractive index carrier and a fast diffusing element (typically an alkalii) that cross migrates during the writing process, it should be feasible producing waveguides with large refractive index contrast. In this work, the design and performance of glass samples pre-designed for generating efficient optical waveguides by FLIR-based, fs-laser writing using is analyzed for different migrating species.