The effect of treatment in highly-ionized medium on the structural and optical properties of proton exchanged planar waveguides in LiNbO3

The effect of highly-ionized medium (plasma) with variable composition on the optical and structural properties of the proton exchanged planar waveguides in lithium niobate is described in this paper. This effect was investigated by prism coupling method and X-ray diffraction analysis. The evolution of optical and structural properties of proton exchanged waveguides treated in plasma was also studied after high temperature annealing. It was determined that the waveguide contrast (Δn) decreased and the depth of waveguide increased, but there were no significant deformations of near-surface region; and other effects generated by treatment in plasma with variable composition were detected.