High-order mode waveguide amplifier with high mode extinction ratio written in an Er3+-doped phosphate glass

Inscription of fiber-compatible active waveguides in high-gain glass, followed by direct interconnection with few-mode fibers, is one of the most promising solutions for all-optical mode-division multiplexing. In this work, based on the femtosecond laser writing technique, we propose a general fabrication scheme for inscribing high-order mode waveguides in glass, by carefully tailoring the cross-section of the waveguides to match the mode intensity distribution via an improved multi-scan approach. Specifically, we design and fabricate two kinds of waveguides, namely, LP01-mode waveguide and LP11-mode waveguide in a highly Er3+-doped phosphate glass, enabling the insertion loss of the waveguides to be as low as 1.88 dB, and the mode extraction factor of the LP11-mode waveguide up to similar to 24 dB. Importantly, we have successfully achieved optical amplification of the waveguides, with an on-off gain as high as 3.52 dB. This novel high-order mode waveguide amplifier has broad application prospects in monolithic on-chip integrated photonic light sources and optical interconnection with few-mode fiber and/or silicon-based waveguide.

Automated summary

In this study, we propose a general fabrication scheme for inscribing high-order mode waveguides in glass based on the femtosecond laser writing technique. We successfully design and fabricate LP01-mode and LP11-mode waveguides in highly Er3+-doped phosphate glass, achieving low insertion loss and high mode extraction factor. Moreover, we demonstrate optical amplification of the waveguides with a high on-off gain. This novel high-order mode waveguide amplifier has great potential in integrated photonic light sources and optical interconnection applications.