Long Low-Loss-Litium Niobate on Insulator Waveguides with Sub-Nanometer Surface Roughness

In this paper, we develop a technique for realizing multi-centimeter-long lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) waveguides with a propagation loss as low as 0.027 dB/cm. Our technique relies on patterning a chromium thin film coated on the top surface of LNOI into a hard mask with a femtosecond laser...

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Main Authors: Rongbo Wu, Min Wang, Jian Xu, Jia Qi, Wei Chu, Zhiwei Fang, Jianhao Zhang, Junxia Zhou, Lingling Qiao, Zhifang Chai, Jintian Lin, Ya Cheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-11-01
Series:Nanomaterials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/8/11/910
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spelling doaj-7ad4d5be10554cc78b29555ba97862042020-11-24T21:50:21ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912018-11-0181191010.3390/nano8110910nano8110910Long Low-Loss-Litium Niobate on Insulator Waveguides with Sub-Nanometer Surface RoughnessRongbo Wu0Min Wang1Jian Xu2Jia Qi3Wei Chu4Zhiwei Fang5Jianhao Zhang6Junxia Zhou7Lingling Qiao8Zhifang Chai9Jintian Lin10Ya Cheng11State Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, ChinaState Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, ChinaState Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, ChinaState Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, ChinaState Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, ChinaState Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, ChinaState Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, ChinaIn this paper, we develop a technique for realizing multi-centimeter-long lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) waveguides with a propagation loss as low as 0.027 dB/cm. Our technique relies on patterning a chromium thin film coated on the top surface of LNOI into a hard mask with a femtosecond laser followed by chemo-mechanical polishing for structuring the LNOI into the waveguides. The surface roughness on the waveguides was determined with an atomic force microscope to be 0.452 nm. The approach is compatible with other surface patterning technologies, such as optical and electron beam lithographies or laser direct writing, enabling high-throughput manufacturing of large-scale LNOI-based photonic integrated circuits.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/8/11/910lithium niobatewaveguidephotonic integrated circuitpropagation lossoptical lithographychemo-mechanical polishing
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Rongbo Wu
Min Wang
Jian Xu
Jia Qi
Wei Chu
Zhiwei Fang
Jianhao Zhang
Junxia Zhou
Lingling Qiao
Zhifang Chai
Jintian Lin
Ya Cheng
spellingShingle Rongbo Wu
Min Wang
Jian Xu
Jia Qi
Wei Chu
Zhiwei Fang
Jianhao Zhang
Junxia Zhou
Lingling Qiao
Zhifang Chai
Jintian Lin
Ya Cheng
Long Low-Loss-Litium Niobate on Insulator Waveguides with Sub-Nanometer Surface Roughness
Nanomaterials
lithium niobate
waveguide
photonic integrated circuit
propagation loss
optical lithography
chemo-mechanical polishing
author_facet Rongbo Wu
Min Wang
Jian Xu
Jia Qi
Wei Chu
Zhiwei Fang
Jianhao Zhang
Junxia Zhou
Lingling Qiao
Zhifang Chai
Jintian Lin
Ya Cheng
author_sort Rongbo Wu
title Long Low-Loss-Litium Niobate on Insulator Waveguides with Sub-Nanometer Surface Roughness
title_short Long Low-Loss-Litium Niobate on Insulator Waveguides with Sub-Nanometer Surface Roughness
title_full Long Low-Loss-Litium Niobate on Insulator Waveguides with Sub-Nanometer Surface Roughness
title_fullStr Long Low-Loss-Litium Niobate on Insulator Waveguides with Sub-Nanometer Surface Roughness
title_full_unstemmed Long Low-Loss-Litium Niobate on Insulator Waveguides with Sub-Nanometer Surface Roughness
title_sort long low-loss-litium niobate on insulator waveguides with sub-nanometer surface roughness
publisher MDPI AG
series Nanomaterials
issn 2079-4991
publishDate 2018-11-01
description In this paper, we develop a technique for realizing multi-centimeter-long lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) waveguides with a propagation loss as low as 0.027 dB/cm. Our technique relies on patterning a chromium thin film coated on the top surface of LNOI into a hard mask with a femtosecond laser followed by chemo-mechanical polishing for structuring the LNOI into the waveguides. The surface roughness on the waveguides was determined with an atomic force microscope to be 0.452 nm. The approach is compatible with other surface patterning technologies, such as optical and electron beam lithographies or laser direct writing, enabling high-throughput manufacturing of large-scale LNOI-based photonic integrated circuits.
topic lithium niobate
waveguide
photonic integrated circuit
propagation loss
optical lithography
chemo-mechanical polishing
url https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/8/11/910
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