Glass waveguides by ion exchange with ionic masking

The fabrication of single-mode glass waveguides by silver ion exchange with ionic masking has been studied. In this ionic masking process metallic stripes are first patterned to mask the potassium ion exchange. Then the stripes are removed and silver ion exchange is performed. This produces waveguides in the previously masked regions where potassium ions are not present. The study on the efficiency of the ionic mask is presented. Then the measured mode profiles are compared to the calculated mode profiles. Finally, the situation in which potassium ion exchange does not increase the refractive index of the glass is discussed.