Direct UV-writing of waveguides

The research presented in this phd thesis is concerned about fabrication of waveguide structures in photosensitized germanosilica thin films by exposure to Ultra-violet (UV) radiation. Using a high pressure loading system and a waveguide fabrication setup, planar waveguiding structures with an UV induced refractive index change of more than 10-2 have been obtained. New insight, with respect to understanding the UV induced index change obtained by direct UV writing, has been provided, through experiments conducted with such high-pressure loaded germanosilica samples. This include measurements of the UV induced refractive index change, and spectroscopic measurements of the defect distribution, for various fabrication parameters. A method to measure the concentration of molecular hydrogen in thin film planar waveguide samples is established and validated for hydrogen loadign at up to 12 mole%. The solubility of moleculare hydrogen is hereby found not to depend on the loading pressure. Modelling the diffusivity of molecular hydrogen in such samples shows the expected diffusion behavior only when loading at a pressure below 200 bar.