Integrated Photonics on Glass: A Review of the Ion-Exchange Technology Achievements

Featured Application ion-exchange on glass has been extensively studied for the realization of Planar Lightwave Circuits. Monolithically integrated on a single glass wafer, these devices have been successfully employed in optical communication systems as well as in sensing. Ion-exchange on glass is one of the major technological platforms that are available to manufacture low-cost, high performance Planar Lightwave Circuits (PLC). In this paper, the principle of ion-exchanged waveguide realization is presented. Then a review of the main achievements observed over the last 30 years will be given. The focus is first made on devices for telecommunications (passive and active ones) before the application of ion-exchanged waveguides to sensors is addressed.

Automated summary

Ion-exchange on glass has been extensively studied and applied for the fabrication of Planar Lightwave Circuits, mainly in the fields of optical communication and sensing. Significant achievements have been made in the past 30 years, providing the possibility to manufacture low-cost, high-performance PLC.