Slit beam shaping method for femtosecond laser direct-write fabrication of symmetric waveguides in bulk glasses

We report both theoretical and experimental results of a slit beam shaping configuration for fabricating photonic waveguides by use of femtosecond laser pulses. Most importantly we show the method supports focussing objectives with a long depth of field and allows the direct-writing of microstructures with circular cross-sections whilst employing a perpendicular writing scheme. We applied this technique to write low loss (0.39 dB/cm), single mode waveguides in phosphate glass. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.