Investigation of 3D Refractive Index Contrast Variations in PVG Based Photo Printed Passive Optical Integrated Circuit Components

Integrated photonics will play an important role in future technologies and the advancement of optical integrated circuits (OICs) is unquestionably dependent on the ability to develop compact and reliable optical components at low cost. Here the authors investigate, the technological viability of a novel technology that has the potential to fabricate functional optical components and integrated them into miniaturized circuits. Three-dimensional refractive index patterns printed on porous vycor glass can be stabilized through consolidation of the glass matrix. The refractive index difference between low and high index regions or the refractive index contrast, is a key decider of the efficiency of those functional optical components. This paper discusses the 3D index contrast variations of photo-lithographically constructed volume Bragg gratings and their index contrast variation at the low and high index interface region. The study also examines the effect of matrix consolidation on the index pattern resolution.