Ultra-smooth lithium niobate micro-resonators by surface tension reshaping

Thermal treatment of micro-structured lithium niobate substrates at temperatures close to, but below the melting point, allows surface tension to reshape a preferentially melted surface zone [1] of the crystal to form ultra-smooth single crystal toroidal or spherical structures. Such structures, an example of which is shown in figure 1, are suitable for the fabrication of photonic micro-resonators with low scattering loss. The thermally treated material maintains its single crystal nature after the thermal treatment because the bulk remains solid throughout the process acting as seed during the recrystallization process which takes place during the cooling stage. The single crystal nature of the reshaped material has been verified by piezoresponse force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and chemical etching. The inherent properties of lithium niobate crystals (optically nonlinear, piezoelectric and electro-optic) makes the resultant micro-resonator extremely suitable for sensing applications, for the production of micro-lasers (if doped with Er or Nd), for nonlinear frequency generation and finally for switching/modulation and tunable spectral filtering in optical telecommunications. The transformation of the initial surface micro-structures to the resulting resonator structure is a temperature dependent process as the surface tension acts on the surface melted layer of the crystal, Experimental investigation and modelling of the thermal treatment as well as investigation of the performance of these microresonators is underway to establish full control of the fabrication process for practical applications

Electro-optic coefficient enhancement in poled LiNbO₃ waveguides

Lithium niobate crystals (LN) show a significant electro-optic (EO) response which contributes to the fabrication of low-voltage operation, high speed integrated optical modulators routinely used in optical telecommunication and integrated optics [1]. A UV laser direct writing method for the fabrication of optical channel waveguides has been proposed and characterized recently [2-4]. Here we report on the enhancement of the electro-optic response of these UV laser-written LN waveguides as a result of a post-poling process. More specifically we have observed a 26% increase of the r33 coefficient compared to the bulk in LN waveguides, fabricated by direct UV writing, that have been subjected to poling inhibition [5]. Poling inhibition produces inverted ferroelectric domains which are only a few microns deep. These domains are formed exactly in the same place as the UV written tracks which are responsible for the waveguide formation, and they overlap significantly with the propagating waveguide mode as is illustrated schematically in Fig. 1. Due to the polarization-selective transmission in the UV-written waveguides only the r33 coefficient could be investigated. Fig. 1 Schematic of the cross section of a) a UV-written waveguide on a single domain substrate, and b) the tail-to-tail domain arrangement overlapping with the waveguide after poling-inhibition. Optical channel waveguides were fabricated by direct UV laser focused writing on the +z face of a z-cut undoped congruent LN substrate [4]. The sample was subsequently subjected to electric field poling using an externally applied electric field (~19.5 kV/mm) which resulted in local poling-inhibited domains of limited depth that overlap with the waveguides as shown in Fig. 1b [5,6]. The electro-optic response was evaluated interferometrically by placing the waveguides in one branch of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer [3]. A set of titanium in-diffused waveguides was used as a control sample to provide the background measurement of the bulk for the r33 coefficient. The measured values of the electro-optic coefficient (r33) in the poling-inhibited samples proved to be systematically higher than the value obtained with the control sample of unpoled titanium in-diffused waveguides which was 35 pm/V. The highest value of the r33 coefficient that was measured in the poling-inhibited waveguides was 44.2 pm/V, which corresponds to an enhancement of 26% as compared to the reference Ti indiffused waveguide sample. The observed enhancement in the value of the EO coefficient is attributed to the strain which is associated with the presence of a tail-to-tail domain boundary that surrounds the optical waveguide channel as illustrated in Fig. 1b. The enhancement of the EO coefficient varied for waveguides which were fabricated under different UV irradiation conditions. The irradiation conditions affect both the waveguide mode confinement and the depth of the poling-inhibited domains. This suggests that the enhancement can be further optimized and even applied to other waveguide systems such as titanium in-diffused and proton exchanged channel guides

LiNbO₃ whispering-gallery mode micro-resonator

Lithium niobate micro-resonators have been fabricated by surface tension reshaping of pre-defined surface microstructures produced at temperatures close to the melting point. Surface-tension-reshaping produced micro-resonator structures with ultra-smooth side surfaces while maintaining the useful crystalline properties. Preliminary optical characterisation on non-optimized structures yielded a Q factor of 5600 at a free spectral range of 4.55nm

Poling-inhibited ridge waveguides in lithium niobate crystals

Ultraviolet laser irradiation of a lithium niobate +z polar surface enables the production of ridge waveguides. Ultraviolet laser induced inhibition of poling is used to define an inverted domain pattern which transforms into a ridge structure by differential etching in hydrofluoric acid. The laser irradiation step also induces a refractive index change that provides the vertical confinement within the ridge structure. Furthermore, it was observed that poling-inhibition results in a significant enhancement of the refractive index contrast between the bulk crystal and the ultraviolet irradiated tracks

UV laser-assisted fabrication of ridge waveguides in lithium niobate crystals

We present a UV laser-assisted method for the fabrication of ridge waveguides in lithium niobate. The UV laser irradiation step provides the refractive index change required for the vertical light confinement in the waveguide and also defines the ferroelectric domain pattern which produces the ridge structures after chemical etching

Ferroelectric domain building blocks for photonic and nonlinear optical microstructures in LiNbO₃

The ability to manipulate the size and depth of poling inhibited domains, which are produced by UV laser irradiation of the +z face of lithium niobate crystals followed by electric field poling, is demonstrated. It is shown that complex domain structures, much wider than the irradiating laser spot, can be obtained by partially overlapping the subsequent UV laser irradiated tracks. The result of this stitching process is one uniform domain without any remaining trace of its constituent components thus increasing dramatically the utility of this method for the fabrication of surface microstructures as well as periodic and aperiodic domain lattices for nonlinear optical and surface acoustic wave applications. Finally, the impact of multi exposure on the domain characteristics is also investigated indicating that some control over the domain depth can be attained

UV laser-induced poling inhibited domain building blocks for photonic and nonlinear optical microstructures

We demonstrate that partial overlap of UV laser irradiated tracks on the +z face of lithium niobate crystals allows the composition of arbitrary shaped complex large scale ferroelectric domain structures by inhibition of poling

Pyroelectric field assisted ion migration induced by ultraviolet laser irradiation and its impact on ferroelectric domain inversion in lithium niobate crystals

The impact of UV laser irradiation on the distribution of lithium ions in ferroelectric lithium niobate single crystals has been numerically modelled. Strongly absorbed UV radiation at wavelengths of 244–305nm produces steep temperature gradients which cause lithium ions to migrate and result in a local variation of the lithium concentration. In addition to the diffusion, here the pyroelectric effect is also taken into account which predicts a complex distribution of lithium concentration along the c-axis of the crystal: two separated lithium deficient regions on the surface and in depth. The modelling on the local lithium concentration and the subsequent variation of the coercive field are used to explain experimental results on the domain inversion of such UV treated lithium niobate crystals

Enhanced electro-optic response in domain-engineered LiNbO₃ channel waveguides

Substantial enhancement (36.7%) of the intrinsic electro-optic coefficient (r_33) has been observed in lithium niobate channel waveguides, which are made to overlap with a pole-inhibited ferroelectric domain. The waveguide and the overlapping ferroelectric domain are both produced by a single UV irradiation process and are thus self-aligning. The enhancement of the electro-optic coefficient effect is attributed to strain, which is associated with the ferroelectric domain boundaries that contain the channel waveguide