Optical directional coupler using deposited silica waveguides (DS guides)

A new optical directional coupler using embedded single-mode glass waveguides is presented. The glass waveguides, called deposited silica waveguides (DS guides), were fabricated by depositing doped glass on a silica substrate after forming grooves by reactive sputter etching. Waveguide transmission loss was measured to be 1.3 dB/cm, and fiber-to-waveguide coupling loss was 0.1 dB. Using a tunable monochromatic light source, 96 percent power transfer or 14 dB isolation was measured. The DS guide directional coupler is compatible with single-mode fiber and is expected to be a useful component for future wavelength division multiplexing transmission systems.