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Updated: Jul 4, 2026
07:23
Fabrication of Nanoheight Channels Incorporating Surface Acoustic Wave Actuation via Lithium Niobate for Acoustic Nanofluidics
Published on: February 5, 2020
Optical microring resonators in fluorineimplanted lithium niobate.
Aleksej Majkic1, Manuel Koechlin, Gorazd Poberaj
1Nonlinear Optics Laboratory, Institute of Quantum Electronics, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland. majkic@phys.ethz.ch
Optics Express
|June 12, 2008
Summary
Researchers created optical channel waveguides and microring resonators in lithium niobate using fluorine-ion implantation. This method enables strong confinement and low propagation losses for optical devices.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Photonics
- Optical Engineering
Background:
- Lithium niobate is a key material for integrated optics.
- Efficient fabrication of optical waveguides and resonators is crucial for photonic devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report the production and characterization of optical microring resonators and channel waveguides in lithium niobate.
- To demonstrate the feasibility of using fluorine-ion implantation for waveguide fabrication.
Main Methods:
- Low fluence fluorine-ion implantation to create single-mode planar waveguides.
- Laser lithography masking and Ar(+) sputtering for planar structuring.
- Characterization of waveguide confinement, refractive index contrast, propagation losses, and resonator performance.
Main Results:
- Single-mode waveguides with strong confinement by an amorphous optical barrier (2-microm wide) were produced.
- A refractive index contrast of 0.17 at 1.5 microm was achieved.
- Channel waveguides showed propagation losses below 8 dB/cm for TE waves.
- Fabricated microring resonators (80-microm radius) exhibited a 14 dB extinction ratio, 2.0 nm free spectral range, and a finesse of 4.
Conclusions:
- Fluorine-ion implantation is an effective method for fabricating optical waveguides in lithium niobate.
- The developed planar structuring technique allows for the creation of functional optical components like microring resonators.
- These results pave the way for advanced integrated photonic devices based on lithium niobate.
