Generation of functional curved waveguides by CO2-laser based deposition of coreless fused silica fibers

Kranert, Fabian; Rettschlag, Katharina; Wienke, Andreas; Hohnholz, Arndt; Neumann, Jörg; Jäschke, Peter; Kracht, Dietmar; Lachmayer, Roland

doi:10.1117/12.2554516

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The feasibility of this process has already been shown for coreless multi-mode fibers. 7,8 In contrast to the previous work, single-mode core-cladding fibers will be used. Furthermore, the ability of the setup to laser cleave fibers and generate end facets with high optical quality in the same machine environment is evaluated allowing for an automatized and integrated manufacturing process of the waveguides.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser-based, on-chip fabrication of glass-based core-cladding waveguides

Kranert

Fawaz

Hinkelmann

et al. 2023

Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXVII

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Photonic integrated circuits (PIC) have been established for miniaturized, on-chip optical systems. Current approaches for producing PICs mostly rely on semiconductor processing technologies, which are complex and costintensive. A promising alternative with the potential to revolutionize PIC fabrication is additive manufacturing (AM), which offers the opportunity to develop tailored and customized waveguide designs for functionalities needed in fast-evolving modern applications like the Internet of Things. Here, an AM technology called laser glass deposition (LGD) is presented for the production of on-chip core-cladding waveguides based on fused silica. Commercially available glass fibers with a diameter of 125 µm are fused onto a quartz glass substrate using a CO 2 -laser in a 2.5D-printing process. Test series are performed to determine the process window to reach a stable connection between fiber and substrate while maintaining the fiber´s optical functionality. To enable efficient light coupling into the waveguide, the fiber end facets are laser cleaved after the deposition within the same process environment. Again, parameter studies are performed to reach a high surface quality. Both the waveguides and the cleaved surfaces are characterized using different imaging techniques. In addition, the optical properties of the generated waveguides are analyzed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser-based, on-chip fabrication of glass-based core-cladding waveguides

Kranert

Fawaz

Hinkelmann

et al. 2023

Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXVII

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Another glass AM methodology utilizes a CO2 laser to locally heat solid silica glass feedstocks to deposit the material directly onto a substrate of the same material 10 – 12 While these AM systems have been used to produce small parts via layer-by-layer deposition, relatively little work has been done to explore the utilization of the material’s optical properties for waveguiding and photonic devices 4 , 8 – 11 This is despite the already robust infrastructure for the high-volume production of optical fiber feedstocks and the customizability of the feedstock geometry and chemistry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… – 11 This is despite the already robust infrastructure for the high-volume production of optical fiber feedstocks and the customizability of the feedstock geometry and chemistry. While there have been successful depositions of coreless silica fibers, the absence of a core limits the optical transmission 12 . This presents a knowledge gap in the glass AM community to deposit high transmission optical fiber parts for several application spaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While there have been successful depositions of coreless silica fibers, the absence of a core limits the optical transmission. 12 This presents a knowledge gap in the glass AM community to deposit high transmission optical fiber parts for several application spaces. These are primarily focused on sensing applications, such as depositing optical fiber onto lenses and optical components for temperature monitoring, as well as photonic sensors integrated into larger systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Digital glass forming of photonics

et al. 2023

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.We investigate the digital glass forming process for depositing commercial SMF-28 single-mode optical fiber for photonic purposes. The process utilizes a CO2 laser to locally heat the feedstock to fuse it onto a fused quartz substrate. We focus on how altering the deposition parameters, including the laser power, feed rate, and path plan, affects the deposited fiber morphology and how this affects the optical transmission. At high powers, the fiber bonds strongly to the substrate, resulting in significant changes in fiber morphology and core shape. With a gradient transition between the feedstock geometry and the deposition geometry, high optical transmission for straight line depositions can be achieved. Additional work was performed examining the optical losses when the fiber is deposited around a constant radius curve for different fiber morphologies, with higher losses recorded for higher power samples. Comparing the doping profile of these samples indicates that the gradient of Ge decreases at higher laser power, suggesting the losses are caused by diffusion of the fiber core. This work shows that for high input powers, the optical losses around curves are increased, leading to a tradeoff between the bonding strength and optical transmission for these geometries.

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“…These glasses, however, were not optically clear due to bubbles and porosity from non-complete sintering. Using the rod-or filament-feeding, optically clear glass structures were successfully made in 2014 (Luo, Pan and Kinzel, 2014) using CO 2 -laser heating and manually feeding 1 mm diameter glass rods used as feedstock, with later work automating the feeding process (Luo et al, 2018), and using thin fibers (John M. Hostetler et al, 2018;von Witzendorff et al, 2018;Kranert et al, 2020;Grabe et al, 2021;Capps et al, 2022). Glass 3D printing by melt extrusion was reported in 2015 (Klein et al, 2015;Inamura et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of glass bonding and multi-layer deposition during filament-based glass 3D printing

2022

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Additive manufacturing of glass is an emerging technology that is foreseen to have a big impact on glass fabrication for innovative solutions within research, as well as for industrial applications. One approach is 3D printing using glass filaments. This technique is similar to directed energy deposition (DED) of metal wires using laser melting, which is highly versatile in printing complex structures. For glass, however, the technique is still at an early stage of development. Printing complex multi-layer structures have been challenging, often resulting in poor control of print geometry, excessive evaporation, as well as low repeatability. In this work we present a systematic study of filament-based 3D printing of silica-glass using CO2-laser heating. The study focuses on the bonding width (wetting) during first-layer printing onto fused quartz substrates and during multi-layer printing, i.e., layer-to-layer bonding. The main printing parameters that have been investigated include printing speed, filament feed rate, and incident laser power. Bonding widths from 17 to 221 µm are achieved with 196 µm diameter fused silica filaments in single line printing. Using experimentally determined printing parameters for such filament, 3D printed objects consisting of more than 100 layers were subsequently demonstrated. The results presented here provide an approach in glass 3D printing, using the filament-based technique, enabling highly complex glass structures to be fabricated.

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Generation of functional curved waveguides by CO2-laser based deposition of coreless fused silica fibers

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Laser-based, on-chip fabrication of glass-based core-cladding waveguides

Laser-based, on-chip fabrication of glass-based core-cladding waveguides

Digital glass forming of photonics

Investigation of glass bonding and multi-layer deposition during filament-based glass 3D printing

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