Characterization of Cu-Na ion-exchanged glass waveguides

Copper-sodium ion-exchanged glass waveguides are fabricated and characterized. Optical absorption and m-lines spectroscopy analyses are presented. No stress-induced birefringence is observed from refractive index profiles reconstruction, and the Cu+ oxidation state is shown to mostly determine the refractive index change. Comparison between compositional in-depth profiles and index profiles is allowed to obtain the variation in the electronic polarizability due to the Cu+-Na+ exchange. The diffusion coefficient of Cu+ in soda-lime glass is also calculated. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.