Planar waveguides in multicomponent glasses fabricated by field-driven differential drift of cations.

The fabrication of planar waveguides by a constant-current thermal poling procedure in multicomponent glasses rich in alkali or alkaline earth ions is described. Near the anode, the dc electric field applied to the substrate separates the mobile cations into regions according to their mobility. Each region presents a different refractive index, allowing a waveguide to be formed. This method produces waveguides with an index increase greater than 10(-2) in soda-lime glass with no external ion source, and the waveguides are buried beneath the substrate surface without an additional step.