Waveguide writing in fused silica with a femtosecond fiber laser at 522 nm and 1 MHz repetition rate

We report on waveguide writing in fused silica with a novel commercial femtosecond fiber laser system (IMRA America, FCPA mu Jewel). The influence of a range of laser parameters were investigated in these initial experiments, including repetition rate, focal area, pulse energy, scan speed, and wavelength. Notably, it was not possible to produce low-loss waveguides when writing with the fundamental wavelength of 1045 nm. However, it was possible to fabricate telecom-compatible waveguides at the second harmonic wavelength of 522 nm. High quality waveguides with propagation losses below 1 dB/cm at 1550 nm were produced with 115 nJ/pulse at 1 MHz and 522 nm. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.