Suppression of Li2O out-diffusion from Ti-diffused LiNbO3 optical waveguides

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Abstract
Light guides fabricated by Ti diffusion into y‐cut LiNbO3 are attractive because of the possibility of using the larest electro‐optic coefficient (r33). However, the accompanying Li2O out‐diffusion gives rise to unwanted guided modes which are a problem in electro‐optic modulators. To overcome this problem it is necessary to reintroduce Li back into the crystal by some means. Here we report on a simplebut effective process (using Li2O) to suppress Li2O out‐diffusion and realize single‐mode Ti‐diffused LiNbO3 light guides in a y‐cut orientation. A natural extension of the above process to Ti‐diffused LiTaO3 light‐guiding structure should be possible.