Fabrication of three-dimensional 1 x 4 splitter waveguides inside a glass substrate with spatially phase modulated laser beam.
Multiple light spots can be generated by modulating the spatial phase distribution of laser beam with a spatial light modulator (SLM). In this paper, we demonstrate the fabrication of three-dimensional 1 x 4 splitter waveguides inside a glass by focusing multiple light spots of femtosecond (fs) laser pulses, which can be controlled by switching spatial phase distributions on an SLM. In the conventional fs laser writing technique, a highly precise positioning of a substrate is essential for fabricating a branched waveguide in a splitter. Using the technique proposed in this paper, a continuously branched waveguide can be produced easily by translating a glass substrate only one time; therefore this technique can eliminate the need for a high precision in positioning of a substrate and save a fabrication time.
Sakakura
Masaaki
M
Kyoto University Office of Society-Academia Collaboration for Innovation, Kyoto 615-8520, Japan. msakakura@saci.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Sawano
Tsutomu
T
Shimotsuma
Yasuhiko
Y
Miura
Kiyotaka
K
Hirao
Kazuyuki
K