Planar waveguide obtained by burying a Ge22As(20Se58 fiber in As2S3 glass

We demonstrate the possibility of fabricating an infrared transmitting waveguide by burying fiber in chalcogenide glasses. Two highly mature chalcogenide glasses are used for these experiments. GASIR glass from Umicore IR Glass, Olen, Belgium, with the composition of Ge(22)As(20)Se(58) is used to draw fibers that are then buried in an As(2)S(3) glass substrate. The glasses we used are compatible, and we obtained a high quality interface. We performed a transmission test with a CO(2) laser at 9.3 microm. The potential for extremely low loss planar waveguides is discussed.