Structural and optical characterisation of planar waveguides obtained via Sol-Gel

摘要

Planar waveguides of SiO_2:TiO_2 (multilayer structure) and SiO_2:CeO_2 (thick layer) were prepared onto commercial glass substrates using a sol-gel technique combined with dip-coating. These glassy coatings were structural characterised by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis and by Confocal Microscopy. Thicknesses of 1230 nm and 4,15 μm and refractive indices of 1.59 and 1.48 for SiO_2:TiO_2 (70:30) and SiO_2:CeO_2 (95:5) waveguides were obtained, respectively, by Spectroscopic Ellypsometry. Losses of 0.8 dB/cm were measured by double prism method in the SiO_2:CeO_2 system.