Integrated optical waveguide fabrication by ion implantation

摘要

A method for fabricating optical waveguides and other optical devices. Nitrogen ions are implanted by ion bombardment in a substrate composed of silicon dioxide. Damage to the atomic structure caused by the bombardment is removed by annealing to obtain a low-loss device. The chemical interaction of the nitrogen ions with the silicon dioxide creates an implanted region having an increased index of refraction, which implanted region retains the increased refractive index after annealing.