Formation of planar optical waveguides in potassium titanyl phosphate by double implantation of protons

The formation of planar waveguides in potassium titanyl phosphate by H+ ions implantation at low energy is presented and discussed. The energy and dose were (600+550) keV and (1+0.8)x10(16) ions cm(-2), respectively. The optogeometrical parameters deduced from the optical characterization are the following: -3% for each refractive index variation (n(x), n(y), and n(z)) and a guide thickness of 4.3 mum. A good agreement is found between the value given by the top of the nuclear damages profile obtained by transport of ions in matter code and the value given by the index fall position. Losses measured in nonannealed samples were estimated to be less than 5 dB cm(-1). (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.