Chalcogenide glass films for the bonding of GaAs optical parametric oscillator elements

Euan J. McBrearty; Keith L. Lewis; David A. Orchard; Paul D. Mason; Cheryl A. Miller; Shaun Savage; David Furniss; Angela B. Seddon

doi:10.1117/12.523307

10 June 2004 Chalcogenide glass films for the bonding of GaAs optical parametric oscillator elements

Euan J. McBrearty, Keith L. Lewis, David A. Orchard, Paul D. Mason, Cheryl A. Miller, Shaun Savage, David Furniss, Angela B. Seddon

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5273, Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2003; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.523307
Event: XXXV Annual Symposium on Optical Materials for High Power Lasers: Boulder Damage Symposium, 2003, Boulder, Colorado, United States

Abstract

There are many applications driving the need for frequency agile solid state laser systems for use in the mid-infrared. Most of these are centred on the development of optical parametric oscillators (OPOs), which exploit the non-linear optical characteristics of non-centrosymmetric materials. In a new approach highlighted in a companion paper, OPO elements are formed by bonding gallium arsenide wafers precoated with RF sputtered films of a quaternary chalcogenide glass. The conditions used for sputtering the glass films are critical in ensuring the realisation of reliable bonds, where the glass is required to be index matched to the GaAs within very close tolerances. Issues such as glass composition, purity, porosity, devitrification and optical absorption are all key factors in determining the success of the approach. This paper describes a summary of some of the results achieved, emphasising the degree of control necessary for both the sputtering process and the preparation of the sputtering targets. Composition changes on sputtering can influence the refractive index of the glass and can easily introduce levels of insertion loss that are unacceptable by the time that stacks containing 50 or more individual phase-matched GaAs elements have been produced. Oxygen-related impurities are also easily introduced from a variety of sources and can degrade performance levels further. Such difficulties have been overcome and a reproducible technique for fabricating glass-bonded GaAs crystals has been developed. Optimised conditions for thermal bonding pairs of glass coated GaAs wafers are also reported.

Citation Download Citation

Euan J. McBrearty, Keith L. Lewis, David A. Orchard, Paul D. Mason, Cheryl A. Miller, Shaun Savage, David Furniss, and Angela B. Seddon "Chalcogenide glass films for the bonding of GaAs optical parametric oscillator elements", Proc. SPIE 5273, Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2003, (10 June 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.523307

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