Buried annealed proton-exchanged waveguide in periodically-poled MgO:LiTaO3 fabricated by surface activated bonding for high-power wavelength conversion

Abstract

Watt-class UV laser lights with symmetric spatial modes are suitable for high-resolution industrial applications. Channel waveguides with a guided mode of several ten microns diameter in MgO:LiTaO3 enhance integration capability while avoiding photorefractive damages during high-power wavelength conversion. We focused on buried waveguides fabricated by proton exchange, surface activated bonding (SAB) and proton diffusion processes in periodically-poled (PP) MgO:LiTaO3. In this work, the mode profiles were simulated using the proton diffusion coefficients estimated by secondary ion mass spectrometry. Using the simulation results, the buried waveguides with a mode diameter of larger than 30 μm were fabricated. By adopting designed PP structures, second harmonic generation (SHG) devices at a wavelength of 532 nm were fabricated. The nonlinear coupling coefficient was estimated to be 0.15 W−1/2 cm−1. Compared to the conventional annealed proton-exchanged waveguide SHG device without SAB, symmetric guided modes were obtained while maintaining the nonlinear coupling coefficient.