Transmission measurement at 10.6 mu m of Te2As3Se5 rib waveguides on As2S3 substrate

The feasibility of chalcogenide rib waveguides working at lambda=10.6 mu m has been demonstrated. The waveguides comprised a several micron thick Te2As3Se5 film deposited by thermal evaporation on a polished As2S3 glass substrate and further etched by physical etching in Ar or CF4/O-2 atmosphere. Output images at 10.6 mu m and some propagation losses roughly estimated at 10 dB/cm proved that the obtained structures behaved as channel waveguides with a good lateral confinement of the light. The work opens the doors to the realization of components able to work in the mid- and thermal infrared up to 20 mu m and even more.